Adriano Moraes’ rise to the head of the ONE flyweight division has been excellent, and he’ll hope to indicate precisely why he deserves to take a seat atop the promotion’s multi-talented 61.2kg division at ONE X on Saturday, March 26.
The well-rounded Brazilian fighter places his gold on the road in opposition to a competitor who believes he can put an finish to ‘Mikinho’s’ third reign because the division king. That man is none apart from No. 2-ranked contender Yuya ‘Little Piranha’ Wakamatsu.
Wakamatsu has been in fantastic type of late, however ‘Mikinho’ hasn’t been impressed by his Japanese contender’s five-match successful streak.
The 32-year-old believes that ‘Little Piranha’ has been placing in lower than convincing performances and that his wins have been “ugly”. He desires to make an announcement by scoring a highlight-reel end in opposition to the putting specialist on the Singapore Indoor Stadium in lower than two weeks.
Forward Moraes’ 14th look on the worldwide stage, we check out a few of his finest outings within the ONE Circle.
#3 Adriano Moraes vs. Eugene Toquero
Adriano Moraes entered his battle in opposition to Eugene Toquero after a demoralizing loss to Kairat Akhmetov simply 4 months prior. He went right down to ‘The Kazakh” through break up determination and misplaced his flyweight gold within the course of.
Profitable was an absolute should for ‘Mikinho’ – and he needed to dig very deep to get himself again into the winner’s circle.
The 32-year-old’s arsenal was no match for the short and skillful Toquero, who shut down the previous champ’s floor recreation and launched a flying knee with ailing intent. Regardless of Adriano Moraes’ finest efforts to begin off robust in opposition to the Filipino warrior, he was bruised, battered, and on wobbly ft simply minutes into the competition.
Toquero continued to press the Brazilian along with his proficiency within the putting division, however it wasn’t sufficient to take out the courageous American High Staff star.
The Brazilian absorbed the injury, gained sufficient time to recuperate and confirmed his warrior spirit, taking his rival right down to the canvas earlier than working his strategy to a brabo choke end at 4:53 of the opening body.
When it comes to comeback victories, few may high this show by Adriano Moraes.
#2 Adriano Moraes vs. Kosuke Suzuki
Two issues make Adriano Moraes probably the most excellent flyweight athletes – his aggression and his Brazilian jiu-jitsu expertise.
These two blended successfully and matched with a fired-up Adriano Moraes is a recipe for catastrophe for any opponent. Kosuke Suzuki discovered that out firsthand when the pair clashed at ONE: Period of Champions in June 2014.
The flyweight star attacked proper from the opening bell with a takedown and used his lanky body and adaptability to punish his rival with armbars and arm-triangle chokes from the highest place.
Suzuki stayed sharp and tried to battle from guard, however his grappling expertise could not sustain with the Brazilian, who finally settled the competition with an arm-triangle choke simply 95 seconds into the third body.
Like he did within the earlier rounds, the Brazilian shot for a takedown, drained his rival’s stamina on the canvas, and locked in a good squeeze round Suzuki’s left arm and head to select up his second win in ONE.
#1 Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson
‘Mikinho’s’ win over Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson was an apt reminder of how a lot he has improved through the years. So far as the time period ‘career-defining’ is worried, none may ever high his end of the American veteran at ONE on TNT in April of final 12 months.
Johnson, who earned his crack on the Brazilian’s strap by successful the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix, was the favourite to win this scheduled five-round warfare. He was, in any case, a 12-time MMA world champion, a person dubbed because the GOAT of MMA, and a high pound-for-pound MMA athlete.
Nonetheless, none of that mattered. The Brazilian athlete conquered ‘Mighty Mouse’ with heavy artillery within the stand-up division and outmuscled the fight sports activities icon on the canvas.
And simply as Johnson thought he was getting snug within the putting division, the flyweight king launched a brief proper hook that floored the 35-year-old contender. Seconds later, he capitalized on the slightest of openings and launched a stinging left knee that separated ‘Mighty Mouse’ from his senses.
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It was a monumental win and a befitting motive to indicate why Adriano Moraes is probably one of many best flyweights of this period. Catch him within the Circle once more at ONE X on Saturday, March 26.
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