Adriano Moraes’ upward thrust to the top of the ONE flyweight department has been remarkable, and he’s going to hope to turn precisely why he merits to take a seat atop the promotion’s multi-talented 61.2kg department at ONE X on Saturday, March 26.
The well-rounded Brazilian fighter places his gold at the line towards a competitor who believes he can put an finish to ‘Mikinho’s’ 3rd reign because the department king. That guy is none rather then No. 2-ranked contender Yuya ‘Little Piranha’ Wakamatsu.
Wakamatsu has been in advantageous type of overdue, however ‘Mikinho’ hasn’t been inspired through his Eastern contender’s five-match successful streak.
The 32-year-old believes that ‘Little Piranha’ has been putting in place lower than convincing performances and that his wins were “unsightly”. He desires to make a remark through scoring a highlight-reel end towards the placing specialist on the Singapore Indoor Stadium in lower than two weeks.
Forward Moraes’ 14th look at the world degree, we check out a few of his highest outings within the ONE Circle.
#3 Adriano Moraes vs. Eugene Toquero
Adriano Moraes entered his combat towards Eugene Toquero after a demoralizing loss to Kairat Akhmetov simply 4 months prior. He went all the way down to ‘The Kazakh” by the use of break up resolution and misplaced his flyweight gold within the procedure.
Profitable used to be 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 used to be no tournament for the fast and skillful Toquero, who close down the previous champ’s flooring sport and introduced a flying knee with sick intent. Regardless of Adriano Moraes’ highest efforts to start out off sturdy towards the Filipino warrior, he used to be bruised, battered, and on wobbly toes simply mins into the competition.
Toquero endured to press the Brazilian along with his talent within the placing division, but it surely wasn’t sufficient to take out the courageous American Best Group superstar.
The Brazilian absorbed the wear and tear, won sufficient time to recover and confirmed his warrior spirit, taking his rival all the way down to the canvas earlier than operating his strategy to a brabo choke end at 4:53 of the outlet body.
In the case of comeback victories, few may just most sensible this show through Adriano Moraes.
#2 Adriano Moraes vs. Kosuke Suzuki
Two issues make Adriano Moraes one of the crucial remarkable flyweight athletes – his aggression and his Brazilian jiu-jitsu talents.
Those two combined successfully and matched with a fired-up Adriano Moraes is a recipe for crisis for any opponent. Kosuke Suzuki discovered that out firsthand when the pair clashed at ONE: Generation of Champions in June 2014.
The flyweight superstar attacked proper from the outlet bell with a takedown and used his lanky body and versatility to punish his rival with armbars and arm-triangle chokes from the highest place.
Suzuki stayed sharp and attempted to combat from guard, however his grappling talents could not stay alongside of the Brazilian, who ultimately settled the competition with an arm-triangle choke simply 95 seconds into the 3rd body.
Like he did within the previous rounds, the Brazilian shot for a takedown, tired his rival’s stamina at the canvas, and locked in a decent squeeze round Suzuki’s left arm and head to pick out up his 2nd win in ONE.
#1 Adriano Moraes vs. Demetrious Johnson
‘Mikinho’s’ win over Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson used to be an apt reminder of ways a lot he has progressed through the years. So far as the time period ‘career-defining’ is anxious, none may just ever most sensible his end of the American veteran at ONE on TNT in April of ultimate yr.
Johnson, who earned his crack on the Brazilian’s strap through successful the ONE Flyweight International Grand Prix, used to be the favourite to win this scheduled five-round struggle. He used to be, finally, a 12-time MMA international champion, a person dubbed because the GOAT of MMA, and a most sensible pound-for-pound MMA athlete.
Alternatively, none of that mattered. The Brazilian athlete conquered ‘Mighty Mouse’ with heavy artillery within the stand-up division and outmuscled the struggle sports activities icon at the canvas.
And simply as Johnson idea he used to be getting comfy within the placing division, the flyweight king introduced a brief proper hook that floored the 35-year-old contender. Seconds later, he capitalized at the slightest of openings and introduced a stinging left knee that separated ‘Mighty Mouse’ from his senses.
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It used to be a huge win and a befitting explanation why to turn why Adriano Moraes is possibly one of the most greatest flyweights of this period. Catch him within the Circle once more at ONE X on Saturday, March 26.
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