Demetrious Johnson is a legend in the world of mixed martial arts, having lorded over the UFC’s flyweight division for years before departing the company for ONE Championship in 2018 after a split decision loss to Henry Cejudo. Johnson won his first three fights in ONE, and finally had his long-awaited showdown with flyweight champ Adriano Moraes on Wednesday night in the main event of ONE on TNT 1.
In the second round of the fight, Johnson and many fans here in the states were introduced to one of the big differences in rules for ONE Championship compared to UFC and other MMA entities that mostly hold fights in the United States, as Moraes knocked Johnson out with a brutal knee to the side of the head while Johnson was grounded.
Adriano Moraes
SHOCKS THE WORLD, becoming the first man to finish Demetrious Johnson! @adrianomkmoraes #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT pic.twitter.com/HhvlmwDwW6
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 8, 2021
Finish of the DJ fight. Brutal knee. And yes, that knee is legal in ONE but not in the US when abiding by the Unified Rules. Moraes nailed that. What a moment for him. Shocking to see DJ get stopped. pic.twitter.com/eT5e7P4eqU
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 8, 2021
The fight was held in Singapore, which meant that type of move is allowed and Johnson caught the wrong end of an absolutely vicious knee from Moraes, going out cold. It was a wild finish, and that it came one fight after Eddie Alvarez was disqualified for punches to the back of the head had many fans a bit quizzical about what is and isn’t allowed in ONE.
Should Eddie Alvarez have been DQ’d for this?
@Ealvarezfight @tntdrama #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT pic.twitter.com/pdNYqaOfeJ
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 8, 2021
In any case, Johnson was handed the first knockout loss of his career — he’d previously had three decision losses — and Moraes made quite the statement in ONE’s first TNT broadcast event.