"History is on his side" - Arjan Bhullar believes Demetrious Johnson will not lose twice to Adriano Moraes

Arjan Bhullar believes Demetrious Johnson will defy the odds and capture the ONE flyweight world title in his rematch against ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes at ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II.

The event is set to be broadcast live this Friday, August 26 at US primetime from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The highly favored Johnson suffered the first knockout defeat of his career against Moraes last year, falling victim to a devastating right knee to the face in round two.

Given the unfavorable results of their last outing, Demetrious Johnson enters the rematch as the underdog against the formidable Brazilian. But as far Arjan Bhullar is concerned, the DJ of old will resurface and assert himself as the best 135lb fighter in the world.

Bhullar, who is scheduled to fight Anatoly Malykhin in a ONE championship heavyweight title unification bout at ONE: 161, shared his two cents in an interview with the promotion.

"DJ versus Adriano is a great matchup. DJ is the GOAT. I don’t think he has lost to anybody twice, so history is on his side. But Adriano is a killer himself, and I think size is really important in this fight. He’s longer and he’s bigger, and those are problems for DJ.”

He added:

“But you can’t pick against the GOAT. You must go with DJ just because of who he is, so I’m going to have to go with DJ. I think he will make the adjustments. He changed up his preparation this time, too. On the other side, maybe Adriano comes out like an even bigger killer because he’s already got one on him, so now, that mystique of DJ isn’t there in his head. I can go either way, but I’m going to pick DJ because of his past and what he’s shown he’s capable of.”

---

Demetrious Johnson will look to bounce back in rematch

Demetrious Johnson is no stranger to facing opponents multiple times in the past. The 36-year-old American knows how to make adjustments on the fly and will never make the same mistake twice.

Most pundits pointed out that DJ was still getting used to ONE’s ruleset and that cost him dearly in that first fight against Moraes.

ONE Championship uses the Global Martial Arts ruleset, which allows knees to a downed opponent. While Johnson is aware of this, it’s something that may not have been ingrained yet in his subconscious at the time.

He’ll be more cautious of those knees in the rematch, that’s for sure.

Demetrious Johnson also has to figure out a way to close the distance against the much bigger champion. DJ is used to fighting bigger guys and somehow finds a way to get the victory.

Can Johnson turn back the clock and prove he’s still one of the best in the world? We’ll find out soon enough.