Flyweight champ Adriano Moraes’ slick ground game on full-display in epic highlight reel

During his 10 years under the ONE Championship banner, reigning flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes has been nothing short of spectacular. Now in his third run as the promotion’s flyweight king, ‘Mikinho’ will step back into the circle during one of the biggest nights in ONE history.

On August 26th, ONE Championship will air live during U.S. prime time for ONE 161, their first event on Amazon Prime Video following a groundbreaking partnership that was announced in April. In the evening’s main event, Moraes will defend his world title against flyweight legend Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson.

Ahead of their highly anticipated rematch, ONE Championship is offering fans the chance to look back at some of Adriano Moraes’ most impressive moments in the circle via a highlight-reel uploaded to the promotion’s YouTube channel.

Check out the highlight-reel below:

In 11 wins inside the circle, ‘Mikinho’ has an impressive eight finishes, giving him a 73 percent finish rate. Even more impressive is the fact that seven of those eight finishes have come by way of submission.

All seven submissions have been via choke, guillotine, rear-naked choke, or arm-triangle, which leads to one indisputable fact: once Moraes gets a hold of the neck, fighters can either tap or take a nap.

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Adriano Moraes believes another win over Demetrious Johnson could cement his legacy

Despite his stunning knockout of Demetrious Johnson at ONE on TNT 1 in April 2021, many within the MMA community called Adriano Moraes’ win a fluke. While speaking to ONE Championship, 'Mikinho' acknowledged that a lot of people were surprised by the result but believes the victory was the result of hard work.

“A lot of people were surprised, but my team and the people who always believed in me weren’t surprised. We already knew. We work very hard—we have a unique discipline. So for us, it was a normal working day, and thank God everything went well.”

Adriano Moraes believes there is nothing left to prove when he steps into the circle with ‘Mighty Mouse’ for the second time, but he recognizes a successful world title defense over the flyweight great will help secure his legacy as one of the division’s greatest.

“This fight is very important for my legacy, because I want to make as many title defenses as I can during my career. And [another] victory over him will help a lot in building that legacy. As champion, I have to defend my title. Regardless of who my opponent is, I have to be ready on the scheduled date to do my job in the best possible way. I’ve fought Demetrious Johnson. I’ve shown my strength against him. But if this is the fight ONE Championship wants, if that’s the plan, I’m in. Let’s make it happen.”

Watch their first bout in the video below: