Adriano Moraes (fighter)
Adriano Moraes (born April 21, 1989) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of ONE Championship. He is the current ONE Flyweight World Champion. He is the first person to finish and knock out Demetrious Johnson, former UFC Flyweight Champion. Background. Moraes was born in Brasilia, Brazil and abandoned by his mother days after birth. He was taken to an orphanage where he lived for three years before being adopted. He was an active child who partook in judo and capoeira. Wanting to learn how to better defend himself, Moraes took up  Brazilian jiu-jitsu. As a member of Constrictor Team, Moraes shined as a submission specialist. Moraes developed his skills and competed in jiu-jitsu tournaments before transitioning into MMA. He made his MMA debut in 2011. He would win the NAGA No-Gi Pro Division Championship in 2014 prior to earning his black belt. Mixed martial arts career. On September 4, 2011, Moraes made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Precol Combat 5 against Ismael Bonfim. Moraes won by first-round submission (guillotine choke). He would reel off six more victories before joining the longtime promotion Shooto in 2013 . ONE Championship. On November 15, 2013, Moraes made his ONE Championship debut at . He lost a split decision to Yusup Saadulaev. First title reign. After back-to-back wins, Moraes met Geje Eustaquio for the vacant ONE Flyweight Championship. Moraes would capture his first world championship with a second-round guillotine choke on September 12, 2014 at ONE FC: Age of Champions. Moraes would successfully defend the belt against Riku Shibuya on March 13, 2015 before dropping the title in a close split decision to Kairat Akhmetov on November 21, 2015 at ONE: Dynasty of Champions. Second title reign. On  August 13, 2016, Moraes captured gold once again as he became the interim ONE flyweight champion by defeating Tilek Batyrov via rear-naked choke at . On August 5, 2017, Moraes and Akhmetov would meet in a flyweight unification bout. Moraes unified the ONE flyweight championship by unanimous decision and became the undisputed champion. On November 10, 2017, Moraes successfully defended the title against Danny Kingad at by rear-naked choke in the first round. Moraes was scheduled to defend his title against Reece McLaren at on March 9, 2018. However, he suffered a knee injury and was forced to withdraw . Moraes was set to make his second title defense against Geje Eustaquio at on June 23, 2018. He lost the fight and the title via split decision. Third title reign. The pair met in a trilogy match at on January 25, 2019. Moraes re-captured the championship via unanimous decision. As the first bout of his new four-fight, two-year contract, Adriano Moraes was scheduled to defend his title against ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion and former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson at on April 11, 2020. The fight was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After being  delayed, Moraes defended his title against Johnson at ONE on TNT 1 on April 7, 2021. The event was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore and will be broadcast on TNT during US prime time. Moraes won the bout via TKO in round two. Moraes next defended his title against Yuya Wakamatsu at on March 6, 2022. He won the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the third round. Legal issues. In late 2021 news surfaced that Moraes' managers Alex Davis and Samir Nadaf had filed a lawsuit against him for breach of contract. The managers  claim that Moraes unilaterally terminated their contract and has approximately $113,000 USD worth of unpaid provisions from fighter salaries and sponsorships.