ONE Championship has announced the main event for ONE 161, their debut on streaming platform Amazon Prime Video — and it’s a big one.
Following Friday’s ONE 158 broadcast, the promotion revealed that Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson would run it back atop the highly anticipated card, the first show of a multi-event streaming deal for the promotion.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 Reigning king Adriano Moraes and MMA GOAT Demetrious Johnson run it back for the ONE Flyweight World Title at ONE 161! @adrianomkmoraes @MightyMouse#ONE161 | August 27 pic.twitter.com/GALrs8WQh7
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 3, 2022
Ariel Helwani was first to report news of the booking.
No other fights have been announced for the ONE 161 line-up. But the inclusion of “Mighty Mouse” against the man who defeated him last year should be enough to turn heads.
Considered one of the all-time greats of mixed martial arts, Johnson (30-4-1) arrived in ONE Championship in 2019, after serving as the inaugural UFC flyweight champion with 11 title defenses, a promotional record that still stands today. After losing his title in a split decision against Henry Cejudo, Johnson, who often expressed frustration with the UFC treating the flyweight division as an afterthought, jumped to ONE Championship in a “trade” for Ben Askren.
“Mighty Mouse” would go on to win his first three fights inside the ONE cage, claiming victory in the promotion’s flyweight grand prix back in 2019. That led to a title opportunity against Moraes which finally arrived last April, after multiple delays, only for Johnson to be KO’d by a knee — a knee perfectly legal under the ONE ruleset, but which would have been illegal in North American MMA.
Since then, Johnson picked up a win in a special rules bout over Muay Thai sensation Rodtang. He now heads back to MMA for what is technically an immediate rematch with Moraes.
Adriano Moraes (20-3) is a three-time flyweight champion in ONE, and currently sits on a three-fight win streak. He is the only fighter to finish Demetrious Johnson in MMA.
ONE 161 takes place August 27, 2022 in Singapore, but will air in prime time in the U.S. and Canada.