Adriano Moraes reflects on ‘special’ win over Demetrious Johnson, wants to cross-promote with Brandon Moreno.
If you weren’t already familiar with ONE Championship’s flyweight champion, Adriano Moraes, you probably are now. The champion defending his title against arguably one of the greatest fighters of all time – Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Now, months removed from that win, FanSided sat down with the champion to reflect on the win and see who is next for Moraes.
“I feel great, I feel proud. I feel really happy and I think I opened a lot of doors with this big win,” Moraes told FanSided. “I always want to go to the fight to win, but that way and that knockout was so special.”
The moment wasn’t just a win for Moraes, but a highlight reel performance in the second round. After getting past Johnson fans are watching closely and wondering who might be next for the champion.
Adriano Moraes wants to fight the UFC champion and represent ONE Championship
Moraes didn’t give a name inside the promotion he’s king of, rather he voiced his desire to finally have a cross-promotion with the UFC and face their new champion – Brandon Moreno.
“He’s a really good fighter,” he said. “He has heart, skills, he’s a BJJ black belt. He’s a great fighter and I hope he’ll be a good champion for the world. First Mexican guy to be the champion and for him, it’s amazing. I’m looking forward to seeing if I’ll fight with him in the future, but I feel it’ll be a good match.”
While a cross-promotion isn’t likely, it’s still something fun to think about. And Moraes doesn’t want to sign with the UFC, he just wants to test himself against the tops of other promotions.
“I prefer to represent ONE Championship and fight against other champions from other organizations,” he said. “It’ll be good for me because I have my legacy in ONE Championship. It would be an honor to represent them.”
ONE Championship returns to live events on July 30 when it hosts ONE: Battleground from Singapore. At press time Moraes wasn’t scheduled for a bout, but he hopes to be soon and potentially in the United States.
“Let’s see what’s gonna happen. Money talks,” he said.
ONE: Battleground takes place on Friday, July 30, live from Singapore. Follow along with FanSided for all your live news and highlights.