Even flying couldn’t stop Adriano Moraes of ATT from winning, retaining the ONE flyweight title
A ONE Championship flyweight champion, Adriano Moraes does not like to fly.
Who can blame him?
Training and residing in South Florida, those flights to and from Singapore to win and then defend the flyweight belt are arduous. We’re talking 22 hours in the air each way.
The process is long, hard, difficult, but the rewards have been well worth it, on the ground and in the air.
Moraes, who trains at the award-winning American Top Team in Coconut Creek, is 20-3 with all three losses by split decision. He avenged two of them, including a unanimous decision victory over Geje Eustaquio to win the ONE Championship flyweight title in 2019 in the Philippines.
Moraes followed up that tremendous effort by successfully defending his belt over former UFC champ Demetrious “Mighty House” Johnson in 2021 in Singapore. He became the first fighter to knock out Johnson.
His latest title defense was a submission (guillotine choke) victory over Yuya Wakamatsu at ONE: X in March in Singapore.
In my video interview with the Champ Adriano Moraes, he discusses ONE Championship, Singapore, Travel, American Top Team, Yuya Wakamatsu, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, ONE in America, AEW and more.
Moraes, 32, of Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil, enjoys South Florida, his second home. Moving there to train at American Top Team was a great decision. He trains with some of the best fighters and coaches in the game. So many up-and-coming talents, too.
ONE Championship is not only noted for MMA competition, but the company also features fights in other disciplines, like kickboxing and Muay Thai.
ONE Championship features a Flyweight Muay Thai Grand Prix on Friday, May 20, which Moraes is looking forward to watching. The tournament features ONE Flyweight Muay Thai world hampion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Jonathan Haggerty, Superlek Kiatmoo9, Walter Goncalves, Taiki Naito, Savvas Michael, Jacob Smith, and Amir Naseri.
ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot will air Friday, May 20 with the lead card beginning at 4:30 a.m. ET, followed by the main card at 8:30 a.m. ET on watch.onefc.com.
ONE Championship broadcast in the U.S.
Prime Video and ONE Championship (ONE) recently announced a multiyear agreement for Prime Video to broadcast 12 live ONE martial arts events annually.
The full live events will be available exclusively on Prime Video in the United States and Canada. The first event will be announced later this year.
ONE Championship links
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This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 4:03 PM.
