“I Ducked Right Into the Uppercut” – Demetrious Johnson Reveals What Led to His Downfall in the First Adriano Moraes Clash

Demetrious Johnson has a big puzzle to solve in front of him at ONE 161. This would be the first time ‘Mighty Mouse‘ is competing against a fighter he has lost to in ONE Championship. Adriano Moraes not only handed him his first Circle loss, but it was also the first time the 12-time MMA world champion was unconscious in a professional mixed martial arts contest.

With the rematch set to go down on August 26 in the U.S. primetime, Johnson would hope to even the scores with ‘Mikinho‘. But before that, he talked about the mistakes he made in the first bout, that provided the dominant Brazilian champion an opportunity to achieve what seemed impossible.

In an interview with MMAFighting, Johnson analyzed the first bout and revealed what went wrong for him.

‘Mighty Mouse’ was appreciative of his ONE 161 opponent and said, “Adriano is a very interesting athlete and a puzzle to solve. You know, he’s longer; He has good movement, good footwork, and he approaches the fights differently.”

Johnson submitted that he watched Moraes’s last bout against Yuya Wakamatsu and identified a different approach from his upcoming opponent.

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Talking about his first bout, Johnson added, “I felt like I just rushed. Right? I felt like I rushed to put myself in that uppercut; uppercut distance, you know. Even though I’m shorter, you know the way I move my head, it’s almost like I ducked right into the uppercut. So, you know it’s a fight, and I’m looking to go out there and see if I can get this one back.”

Thus, the 35-year-old believes his aggressive style against a counter-striker like Moraes botched him the ONE flyweight gold at ONE on TNT 1.

Demetrious Johnson compares Adriano Moraes to Henry Cejudo and Dominick Cruz

The AMC Pankration athlete has suffered only four losses in his illustrious MMA career. These have come against the best fighters in the world. ‘Mighty Mouse’ compared ‘Mikinho‘ to a few of them.

Johnson offered whom Moraes resembles and said, “I’ll put him [Adriano Moraes] in a category of like a Dominick Cruz, right? Like Dominick Cruz when I fought him, he likes to, like, use his movement to make the fight as not as engaging.”

The 35-year-old added, “You know, when I fight Henry Cejudo. It was like this back and forth, wrestling, standup, you know we’re kicking each other. So, it’s kinda hard to say he’s more of a trickier puzzle than you know when I fight Henry Cejudo.”

That said, the American athlete acknowledged, “I’m sure Adriano can do all of that. But I haven’t got the chance to actually test that skill set against him. Because we haven’t got to that part, in the fight, yet.”

Johnson bounced back from the flyweight title bout loss suffered on April 7, 2021. He defeated Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a special rule contest at ONE X on March 26, 2022. Thus, after tasting victory again, he would like to continue his winning streak and prove he can beat flyweight king Adriano Moraes.

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What are your thoughts on Demetrious Johnson’s analysis of the first bout against Adriano Moraes? Do you agree with Johnson’s comparison of ‘Mikinho‘ to his former opponents? Let us know in the comments section.