Adriano Moraes excited for possible Kairat Akhmetov trilogy and hybrid rules clash vs. Ilias Ennahachi

Adriano Moraes has successfully cleaned out his division and he’s now asking who he should fight next.

‘Mikinho’ already beat all of the top five contenders in his division, with the exception of No.5-ranked Reece McLaren. He recently submitted No.3-ranked Yuya Wakamatsu at ONE: X and knocked out No.1 contender Demetrious Johnson before that. The Brazilian star also holds wins over No.4-ranked Danny Kingad and No.2-ranked Kairat Akhmetov.

While it’s still up to ONE Championship to determine who he will face next, Moraes feels that Akhmetov deserves another crack at the title.

Moraes and Akhmetov have already fought twice, with each fighter holding a win against the other. The flyweight king believes ‘The Kazakh’ is the one closest to a title shot among the contenders in the division. In an interview with ONE Championship, he said:

“I believe that Kairat Akhmetov is closer now because we fought twice with one win each, so this trilogy would make perfect sense. But the decision is up to ONE Championship. After the victory against Wakamatsu, I eliminated the top four in the rankings. So, I don’t know who will be the next to fight for the belt."

Kairat Akhmetov took the first of their meetings in November 2015, winning a close split decision. Adriano Moraes got his revenge in July 2017 when he regained the ONE flyweight world title via a unanimous decision win.

While Moraes has enjoyed a strong run of form over the past six years, Akhmetov has slowly put together a four-fight winning streak. The 34-year-old grappler has beaten ranked contenders Kingad and McLaren during his streak.

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Adriano Moraes wants a mixed rules bout against flyweight kickboxing king Ilias Ennahachi

Demetrious Johnson’s mixed rules bout against Muay Thai superstar Rodtang Jitmuangnon at ONE: X late last March created such intrigue among the MMA community. Adriano Moraes seemingly wants in on the action too.

Moraes said he wants to take on ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Ilias Ennahachi at some point down the line.

“The fight with special rules was really cool. I loved watching Demetrious Johnson fight Rodtang. I see that kind of super-fight as an option too. There’s the kickboxing champion, Ilias Ennahachi, a very tough guy, and he’s already shown interest in doing a fight with these rules. So why not? He’s a great striker, so it would be an interesting fight. But it would be even more interesting if it was just MMA."