Demetrious Johnson shocks Adriano Moraes with flying knee KO to win flyweight belt

16 months in the making, Adriano Moraes stepped back inside the circle to defend his ONE flyweight world championship against flyweight superstar Demetrious Johnson.

In April 2021, their first meeting ended in shocking fashion, with Moraes rendering Demetrious Johnson unconscious with a perfectly placed knee in the second round. Having secured yet another shot at ONE gold, ‘Mighty Mouse’ stepped into the spotlight once again, determined to add another accolade to his storied MMA career.

Adriano Moraes came out in the first round, immediately landing a shot on Johnson. Moraes looked significantly bigger than Demetrious Johnson and opened things up by pushing the pace. 'Mighty Mouse' responded with a little taunting, putting his hands behind his back.

Moments later, ‘Mikinho’ caught a leg kick from Johnson and used it to take down ‘Mighty Mouse’ near the halfway point. Johnson displayed significant improvement in his ground game, keeping an active guard and preventing 'Mikinho' from doing any significant damage in the first.

Moraes came out for the second round with a gash above his right eye. Johnson threw a leg kick and immediately ate a straight right for his trouble. Moraes the clipped ‘Mighty Mouse’ with a head kick that wobbled the challenger.

Desperately shooting for a takedown, Johnson ended up belly-down and began eating knees from Moraes until he made his way back up. The Brazilian then took the American down to the canvas once again, keeping him there for the duration of the second.

In the third, Demetrious Johnson began to push the action, landing a stiff body kick early on. The length of Moraes continued to be a problem for ‘Mighty Mouse’, but Johnson was clearly the fresher fighter at the midway point.

Finding his rhythm, Johnson popped Moraes with a stiff right jab. The biggest story of the third round was the tide beginning to turn in favor of Demetrious Johnson.

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Demetrious Johnson captures ONE flyweight world title

Going into the championship rounds, Moraes focused on clinching with Johnson and pressing him against the cage to halt the momentum. Breaking away from the clinch, Johnson chased Moraes down to the other side of the fence.

In hot pursuit, Johnson ate a flying knee from Moraes that connected with his chest, momentarily knocking him to the canvas. Undeterred, 'Mighty Mouse' continued his pursuit, landing a massive right that rocked Moraes back.

The former UFC champion quickly moved in, delivering an absolutely brutal flying knee to his adversary's face, knocking Moraes out and forcing the ref to stop the bout at 3:50 of the fourth round.

Speaking with Mitch Chilson following his incredible knockout victory, Johnson discussed how he felt about the fight and the spectacular final sequence.

“So, like I said guys, I’m very humble. I get beat up all the time in the gym. They humble me. With this game plan, it was a very hard camp. Just walking him down, taking shots, eating shots. This one when he took me down, he is not going get past my guard. That is when I got the good elbow and I caught him. I just kept on working. I felt great.”

It was another great performance by Demetrious Johnson, who is arguably the greatest flyweight mixed martial artist in the world. For his beautiful flying knee knockout, Johnson was rightfully awarded a $50,000 bonus.