ONE Championship: Adriano Moraes TKOs Demetrious Johnson in stunning upset to retain flyweight title

Adriano Moraes stunned to world of mixed martial arts with a sensational second-round TKO victory against Demetrious Johnson.

Despite being the challenger, with a significant height and reach disadvantage against the lanky Brazilian, former UFC champ Johnson had staggering -900 odds heading into Thursday morning’s ONE on TNT 1 main event in Singapore.

But ONE’s flyweight king Moraes became the first man to finish “Mighty Mouse”, rocking the 34-year-old American with a left uppercut and then throwing a knee on the ground and landing some punches before the referee stepped in.

“First of all, I just wanna thank you, this is a dream come true, I’m really working hard every single day inside the gym, my teammates and coaches know that,” Moraes said in his post-fight interview with ONE’s broadcast team. “Bro, I don’t have words to describe this moment, we did it.

“I grew up watching DJ fight, he’s a legend. I knew exactly his game. He’s a grappler like me but me and my team did a perfect strategy to fight against him. I got to him with a good uppercut. I’m so excited, I don’t know what to say.”

After two years of sitting on the sidelines in the US and training at American Top Team, and watching Johnson tear his way through ONE’s flyweight grand prix to earn this title shot before the coronavirus pandemic delayed the bout, the Brazilian “Mikinho” delivered on his promise to pull off the upset.