“A little more to prove” - Humble Adriano Moraes says he has more work to do to reach legendary status

When Adriano Moraes delivered a perfectly placed knee to the chin of Demetrious Johnson to knock out the all-time flyweight great for the very first time in his career, fans around the world were in disbelief.

Entering the contest, Moraes was a significant underdog despite being the reigning ONE flyweight world champion. The victory was undoubtedly the biggest of Adriano Moraes’ career, and it appeared as though ‘Mikinho’ had secured his status as a flyweight legend.

Moraes does not see it that way, though. The humble world champion spoke to ONE Championship as he prepares to run it back with ‘Mighty Mouse’ at the promotion’s stacked ONE on Prime Video 1 lineup on August 26 — during the conversation, Moraes revealed that he believes there is a lot of work to be done before the title of ‘legend’ can be bestowed upon him:

“I believe I still have a little more to prove, that I have to beat a few more records to put myself in this scenario and compare myself with other legends. I think I still have a lot to work on to get to that level.”

When it comes to world champions in ONE Championship, few are as decorated as Moraes. Currently in his third reign as the promotion’s flyweight king, Moraes has defeated some of the absolute best the promotion has to offer, including Kairat Akhmetov, Danny Kingad, Geje Eustaquio on two separate occasions, and the aforementioned Demetrious Johnson.

Check out some of Moraes' submissions in the video below:

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Adriano Moraes discusses his preparation for the upcoming rematch with ‘Mighty Mouse’

While Adriano Moraes is no stranger to rematches, his main event rematch with Demetrious Johnso will be one of the biggest fighst of his career thus far. Entering the contest with a heap of momentum after knocking out 'DJ' in their ONE on TNT 1 main event, ‘Mikinho’ looks to repeat the result on his way to becoming a flyweight legend.

While discussing his training for the epic rematch, Moraes said:

“At ATT, we have a squad of lightweights. I have a lot of good training partners here. And my coaches are the same – Katel Kubis, Alemão, and Macarrão in Muay Thai, Gabriel and Ivan in boxing, Steve Mocco in wrestling, Marcos Parrumpinha in jiu-jitsu, Mike Brown helping in the MMA mix, and Conan Silveira as head coach.

Adriano Moraes’ goal is to become a legend in combat sports, yet he is training for more than that. ‘Mikinho’ strives to not just be a better fighter, but a better human being in general:

“I seek to improve every day as an athlete and as a human being. I believe that is still my main objective. But I’m training to get there well on the day of the fight because I want to get there, in addition to being well prepared, without any injuries, which is my main focus. We are working hard, daily, so that I can arrive very focused and trained for the next fight.”