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Demetrious Johnson got his hand raised in the mother of all trilogies, ending his rivalry with Adriano Moraes on a winning note at ONE Fight Night 10.
‘Mighty Mouse’ retained his ONE flyweight world title in front of his fellow Americans in a sold-out 1stBank Center at Colorado on Friday.
'DJ' kept tenderizing Moraes’ lead leg with sharp kicks to begin the bout, darting in and out of danger before Moraes could respond. ‘Mighty Mouse’ remained elusive over the course of the round, even dodging a powerful flying knee attempt from ‘Miknho’.
After bypassing the challenger’s length, initiated a clinch battle to close the round, with each fighter landing knees to the body. Moraes got his licks in at the beginning of round two, finally connecting on a looping cross to get on the board.
‘DJ’, though, retaliated right away, backing him up against the cage and landing a right hook just above his ear. A left straight staggered the champion momentarily, but he recovered quickly and took it to the clinch once more. Moraes, though, used his size advantage to push the American near the circle wall.
With under a minute left, ‘DJ’ changed levels and secured the first takedown of the fight with a beautiful double leg.
Round 3 was once again a battle in closed quarters, as the Brazilian made Johnson carry his weight. Despite Moraes’s crushing pressure, Johnson softened him up with hellish body blows over and over.
‘Mighty Mouse’ opened the championship rounds with a thudding body kick, while Moraes stuck to his gamelan in close quarters.
He was having some success with it until ‘DJ’ made him pay with a short elbow. The Washington native then went airborne, grazing the towering challenger’s chin with a jumping knee.
A war of attrition took place in the fifth round, with both fighters connecting knees to the body.
Despite being clearly ahead of the judges' scorecards, Johnson still went for broke in the final minute, busting up Moraes’ lip with three straight lefts.
Final result: Demetrious Johnson defeats Adriano Moraes via unanimous decision to retain the ONE Flyweight World Title
After keeping his belt and improving his ONE record to 6-1, ‘DJ’ addressed the elephant in the room.
Johnson, after hearing the love from the crowd, said he’d put retirement on hold in the meantime and consult with his wife before making any decisions.
ONE Fight Night 10 full results:
Demetrious Johnson defeats Adriano Moraes via unanimous decision to retain the ONE Flyweight World Title
Rodtang Jitmuangnon defeats Edgar Tabares via KO at 1:34 of round two to retain the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title
Mikey Musumeci defeats Osamah Almarwai via submission (rear-naked choke) at 8:03 of round one
Stamp Fairtex defeats Alyse Anderson via KO at 2:27 of round two (MMA - atomweight)
Zebaztian Kadestam defeats Roberto Soldic via KO at 0:45 of round two (MMA - welterweight)
Sage Northcutt defeats Ahmed Mujtaba via submission (heel hook) at 0:39 of round one (MMA - lightweight)
Aung La N Sang defeats Fan Rong via submission (guillotine choke) at 0:48 of round two (MMA - middleweight)
Tye Ruotolo defeats Reinier de Ridder via unanimous decision (submission grappling - middleweight)
Kairat Akhmetov defeats Reece McLaren via unanimous decision (MMA - flyweight)
Ok Rae Yoon defeats Lowen Tynanes via unanimous decision (MMA - lightweight)
