By:  | April 8, 2021 11:12 am

In all of Demetrious Johnson‘s illustrious career in MMA, he had never once been finished. That record came to an abrupt end at the hands of ONE flyweight champion, Adriano Moraes today in Singapore

Despite being the champion, Moraes came into the fight at ONE on TNT as the overwhelming underdog. The Brazilian has been calling for a fight with ‘Mighty Mouse’ for several years, and when he finally got the opportunity he grasped it with both hands.

The champ, standing at 5’8, towered over Johnson as the 5’3 challenger looked to switch stances and find ways to get on the inside. Moraes, in turn, was moving well in the first round, staying on the outside and baiting ‘DJ’ to make a move.

Massive knee

Moraes threw a solid body kick and then caught the reply from Johnson before forcing him to the ground. Johnson was able to evade the heel hook, but it was Moraes who ended the round in top position. Johnson continued to stalk Moraes in the second round, staying light on his feet and looking to find entry points.

The patience of American Top Team fighter soon paid dividends. As Johnson came forward, Moraes landed a right uppercut that dropped him. With Johnson grounded, Moraes let go with a massive knee, followed by a flurry of decisive punches to seal what will go down as an historic victory.

This was Moraes’s first knockout win since 2013 and he extends his record to 19-3. Johnson slips to 30-4-1.

Disappointing outcome

There was a very different shock in store for Eddie Alvarez – and no less disappointing. The former UFC lightweight champion lost via disqualification after the referee showed him the red card for shots to the back of the head against Iuri Lapicus.

‘The Underground King’ was able to take his opponent down in the opening minute of the fight. With Lapicus turning his face towards the fence, Alvarez threw six punches, most of which looked to be landing on the back of his opponent’s head.

The American responded to a verbal warning from the referee before launching hammer fists to the downed Moldovan. With that, the official swiftly stepped in to halt the action before calling the contest a ‘DQ’ against Alvarez who was left close to tears. The loss sees him slip to 30-8 while Lapicus is now 15-1.

Blistering start

Oumar Kane beat Patrick Schmid via TKO in the first round to continue his blistering start in professional MMA. This was ‘Reug Reug’s’ third straight finish and he looked devastating as he dispatched the Swiss debutant inside 2 minutes.

Schmid was a late replacement for Iran’s Mehdi Barghi and it was a baptism of fire for the 35 year old kickboxer. But given his opponent’s background in striking, Kane’s dominance on the feet was impressive.

Kane’s overhand right landed early on with Schmid landing an outside leg kick. Kane followed up with a jab and was soon able to let his hands go. The 6’4 powerhouse then landed a brutal flurry – the right cross and right uppercut landing with ferocity.

The African star then overpowered his opponent, pushing him down to the canvas before going to work with some ground and pound to put a stamp on the performance. Kane improves to 3-0 while Schmid drops do 0-1 and will probably want to stick to kickboxing in future.

ONE ONE on TNT, Singapore, April 7th
Adriano Moraes def. Demetrious Johnson by TKO (Knees and Punches) at 2:20 of Round 1
Muay Thai: Rodtang Jitmuangnon def. Danial Williams by Decision (Unanimous)
Iuri Lapicus def. Eddie Alvarez by DQ (Illegal strikes)
Raimond Magomedaliev def. Tyler McGuire by Decision (Unanimous)
Enriko Kehl def. Chingiz Allazov by Decision (Split)
Oumar Kane def. Patrick Schmid by TKO (punches) at 1:48 of Round 1