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Brazilian star Adriano Moraes is a multi-time ONE flyweight world champion, and it is not without reason.
One of the longest-tenured fighters in ONE Championship, ‘Mikinho’ has always banked on toughness and resilience to overcome challenges, apart from his top-class fighting skills, to be ahead of the competition and succeed.
ONE Championship recently uploaded a throwback video of Adriano Moraes showing grit and determination to come back and beat Filipino Eugene Tuquero in their clash in March 2016 in Yangon, Myanmar.
The bout came on the heels of the Brazilian’s loss to Kazakhstan’s Kairat Akhmetov four months prior, where he also surrendered the flyweight gold.
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Against Tuquero, Adriano Moraes struggled early against a very aggressive opponent who threw everything he got at him. ‘Mikinho’ first caught a solid flying knee in the opening minutes that immediately staggered him, then a flurry of punches that popped him open and had him bleeding profusely.
Despite the damage he absorbed, the American Top Team fighter stayed the course and eventually took the game to the ground, where he had the advantage.
Moraes used his long arms to put pressure on Tuquero, eventually leading him to a position for a Brabo choke late in the opening round, which ended the contest in his favor afterwards.
Check out the video below:
Adriano Moraes’ bounce-back abilities will once again be tested on May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video in Colorado, U.S.A.. There, he will try to get back the flyweight belt that he lost to Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson last August.
It will be a trilogy fight between the two, who split their first two encounters both by way of knockout.
ONE Fight Night 10 will take place at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, and will be aired live and for free to all North American fans with an active Prime Video subscription.
Adriano Moraes believes his BJJ skills will be a key weapon for him against Demetrious Johnson
Brazilian fighter Adriano Moraes is expecting nothing but a total battle in his trilogy fight with ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson in May. With that recognized, he is coming in packing a full arsenal, including his Brazilian jiu-jitsu game.
Speaking to SCMP MMA, 'Mikinho' said that his grappling could spell the difference against 'Mighty Mouse' in their world title showdown at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video in Colorado, U.S.A. .
He said:
“Yes, of course. In both fights, I put my jiu-jitsu to work, and I did well. You can check it out in my second fight, I was doing good in my jiu-jitsu. I finished the first round on the mount. The second round, I was passing the guard already and ready to go to the submission.”
Watch the interview below:
Adriano Moraes lost the second fight and the flyweight world title after being knocked out in the fourth round. The defeat leveled their head-to-head series at one win apiece. 'Mikinho' remains confident that his BJJ base will steer him back to the summit of the flyweight division.
