After dropping his flyweight gold to Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson last year, Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes has left no stone unturned on his hunt to reclaim his spot atop ONE Championship’s 135-pound division. The Brazilian superstar gets his chance to do so against Johnson in the main event of the Singapore-based promotion’s historic on-ground debut event in the U.S., ONE Fight Night 10, this Friday, May 5, at Denver, Colorado’s 1stBank Center.

Moraes – ONE’s most dominant flyweight World Champion – was knocked out via a stinging knee from “Mighty Mouse” in their electric rematch at ONE on Prime Video 1 last August.

Adriano Moraes will be focused on regaining his lost glory

Despite the loss, “Mikinho” is still focused on building a legacy and leaving a mark in mixed martial arts, and he knows how important his rubber match against the MMA GOAT will be in that quest.

Speaking to ONE, Moraes said, “We have been building the division a few years ago, I was the first champion of the ONE flyweight category. I’m glad to be one of the pillars of the category and to be able to make the main event of the first ONE Championship event in the U.S., it is unheard of, and it will be very significant to beat him in the U.S.”

 A victory for him in Denver would draw a huge sigh of relief from the man who entered his name in the history books by becoming the first fighter to knock out Johnson when they first clashed in 2021.

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Unfortunately, lightning didn’t strike twice when they ran it back just under 18 months later.

Moraes has worked on his mistakes for a better outcome this time

Not one to be disheartened, the American Top Team and Constrictor Team athlete embarked on a mission to start from scratch in preparation for his inevitable third meeting with “Mighty Mouse.”

Moraes added, “After the defeat, I did what I always do, regardless of whether I won or lost the fight. I took time for myself to recover, to absorb everything that happened in the fight, and take some lessons. Then I went back to the academy to fix some mistakes, analyze some details of my game, and start all over again.”

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His journey to regain his confidence, work on his flaws, and find the perfect way to beat the 13-time MMA World Champion a second time has been strenuous. But with the bulk of the work out of the way, and just days before his rubber match with Johnson, Moraes is confident of his chance to leave the 1stBank Center as the ONE Flyweight World Champion.