Thiago Alves foresees an Adriano Moraes submission or knockout at ONE X

Thiago ‘Pitbull’ Alves predicts that ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes will leave the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday, March 26, with yet another stoppage win to his record. Moraes will defend his flyweight gold against No. 2-ranked contender Yuya ‘Little Piranha’ Wakamatsu at ONE X.

The former UFC athlete and current striking coach at American Top Team called his shot on an Instagram story uploaded by Adriano Moraes earlier today.

“What's up guys, Adriano Moraes is defending his belt [at] ONE X, March 26, in Singapore. Don’t you miss it, it’s going to be a knockout or submission, no doubt. Let’s go."

Catch the clip below:

‘Pitbull’ has been one of the coaches at the Coconut Creek, Florida-based gym assisting ‘Mikinho’ in the lead up to his scheduled five-round world title tilt versus Wakamatsu at the promotion’s 10-year anniversary event.

Adriano Moraes’ ground game should take him past the Japanese fighter with ease. However, he expects to get entangled with ‘Little Piranha’ in the striking department should his plan to dominate the match on the canvas fail.

The best way for the Brazilian to even the odds against an athlete who has 11 knockouts to his name could be to sharpen his striking tools alongside one of the most fearsome knockout artists of all time, Alves. 13 of ‘Pitbull's 23 career victories have come by knockout.

ONE X will be Moraes' 14th appearance on the global stage. He aims to extend his winning streak at the Singapore-based promotion to three while putting an end to Wakamatsu’s five-match undefeated run.

Their flyweight world title clash will feature on the third card of ONE X, just before Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Demetrious Johnson’s special-rules contest gets underway inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

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Adriano Moraes: “Now the time has come for him to get what he’s always asked for”

The flyweight king is certain he can derail Yuya Wakamatsu’s hot streak of wins and seal his spot as one of the promotion’s all-time greats at ONE X.

Though he views the 27-year-old contender as a genuine threat to his throne, the American Top Team standout believes his victories have not been convincing at all. He has gone as far as describing Wakamatsu’s successful outings as "ugly performances."

He told ONE:

“We already predicted this fight against Yuya Wakamatsu because he doesn't take my name out of his mouth. He won some fights with ugly performances and in the end, he always asked for a title fight. But he comes from good victories, and I believe he deserves to fight for the title. He's a tough fighter. Now, the time has come for him to get what he's always asked for.”

Tune in on March 26 to see the action unfold at a stacked ONE X event.