Former ONE Championship flyweight champion Adriano Moraes will make his comeback after over a year by facing Danny Kingad in a rematch at the ONE 169 card in Atlanta on Nov. 8, following back-to-back losses to Demetrious Johnson.
Former ONE Championship flyweight champion Adriano Moraes is making his return after more than a year. He’ll face Danny Kingad in a rematch at the ONE 169 card in Atlanta on Nov. 8.
ONE Championship officials confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting on Thursday. Exciting news, right?
This fight marks Moraes’ comeback after back-to-back losses to Demetrious Johnson. Their trilogy was intense! Moraes had stunned everyone with a knockout to defend his title against Johnson in 2021.
Johnson, however, got his revenge. First, he knocked out Moraes in their 2022 rematch. Then, he clinched a unanimous decision victory in May 2023. Moraes hasn’t fought since that night.
Now, he’s set to face Kingad again. Kingad has been a staple of the ONE flyweight division since his debut in 2016. In their first encounter in 2017, Kingad was submitted by Moraes in the first round with the flyweight title on the line.
After that loss, Kingad bounced back impressively, winning six consecutive fights. But then he faced Johnson in the finals of the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix in 2019 and lost. Since then, he’s gone 2-2 in four bouts.
Almost exactly seven years after their first clash, Moraes and Kingad will meet again. This bout is part of the second ONE Championship card in the United States in 2024, following an event scheduled in Denver in September.