ONE 161 will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime in the US and the event will be headlined by a flyweight title rematch between Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson. The event will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on August 27th (local time).
The show will be broadcast in the US on Friday night prime time but is actually taking place on Saturday morning in Singapore. Last year Moraes stunned the world by knocking out Johnson.
Moraes (20-3) is currently in his second stint as champion and has held the title since 2019 although he has only defended it twice. While he has always been highly regarded in Asia the win over Johnson really put him on the global MMA map.
Demetrious Johnson 🆚 Adriano Moraes ended with a SHOCKING KNOCKOUT! @adrianomkmoraes #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/TIY3CUqeLR
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) November 23, 2021
Greatest flyweight
Johnson (23-4-1) is widely regarded as being the greatest flyweight of all time. He successfully defended the UFC flyweight title 11 times and had been widely expected to win the ONE Championship belt at the first attempt.
So the loss to Moraes was a stunning upset. Johnson has not competed in MMA since although he did face Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a mixed rules bout at ONE: ‘X’ earlier this year.
Moraes has successfully defended his title since. He submitted Yuya Wakamatsu with a third round guillotine choke at ONE: ‘X’ making this the biggest flyweight fight of the year.
Recent ONE Championship cards in Singapore have taken place behind closed doors. But there will be a live audience for ONE 161 which looks set to feature some of the promotion’s biggest names.
ONE 161, Singapore, August 27th
Adriano Moraes (c) vs. Demetrious Johnson (For flyweight title)
