Anybody who has ever confronted Adriano Moraes has to be careful for his sensational floor sport.
‘Mikinho’, in any case, is a submission hunter of the best order, able to ending the combat on the mats wherever and anytime along with his big range of chokes and joint locks.
The multi-time former ONE flyweight world champion has 10 profession wins by submission, with seven of these happening contained in the Circle.
This deadly facet of his well-rounded sport will as soon as once more be on full show at ONE Battle Evening 10: Johnson vs Moraes III on Prime Video.
On Could 5, the 1stBank Middle in Colorado will function the battleground for the most important trilogy match of Moraes’ storied profession in opposition to his rival Demetrious Johnson.
The huge firefight for the ONE flyweight world title will air dwell and free for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.
Whereas Adriano Moraes has actually advanced into a whole martial artist by the years, there’s little question that his jiu-jitsu is his bread and butter.
Let’s recall three of his greatest submission wins in ONE Championship.
#3 Geje Eustaquio (ONE: Rise of the Kingdom)
Moraes and Geje Eustaquio’s paths crossed thrice contained in the Circle, and that rivalry was born again in 2014.
The Brazilian drew first blood by denying the Workforce Lakay staple’s shot on the inaugural ONE flyweight crown.
After a feel-out course of in spherical 1, Moraes got here out because the aggressor within the second canto and had Eustaquio on the defensive along with his fixed stress.
‘Mikinho’ trapped his foe close to the Circle partitions and accomplished a phenomenal double-leg takedown.
Though Gravity stood up and reversed the place, Moraes was nonetheless one step forward. In a single swift movement, the American High Workforce standout latched onto Eustaquio’s uncovered neck and pulled guard for a particularly tight guillotine choke.
The Filipino valiantly tried to flee the precarious place, however his face was already turning purple from the shortage of oxygen. The faucet got here quickly after, which ushered Moraes’ first world title reign.
#2 Danny Kingad (ONE: Legends of the World)
Except for his overwhelming prime stress, what makes Moraes a real handful on the bottom is his ridiculous squeezing energy.
Danny Kingad discovered this the laborious manner when he didn’t usurp ‘Mikinho’ from his flyweight throne in 2017.
‘The King’ grew to become the second Workforce Lakay fighter to succumb to Moraes’ vicious submission sport. He couldn’t even make it previous the primary spherical.
The Philippines’ Nationwide Wushu world champion initially tried to make it a stand-up battle early on and located success along with his wild strikes.
Nonetheless, Moraes was merely simply biding his time as he took the combat to the bottom after catching one among his kicks.
From there, the now 34-year-old fighter softened Kingad up with strikes and masterfully transitioned to his opponent’s again very quickly.
As soon as ‘Mikinho’ secured that suffocating physique triangle of his, everybody knew Kingad was dwelling on borrowed time.
Like a boa constrictor slowly squeezing the life out of its helpless prey, Moraes acquired below the Filipino’s chin and patiently peeled away his defending arm.
He carried out a textbook rear bare choke that had Kingad wincing in agony and was left with no selection however to faucet.
#1 Yuya Wakamatsu (ONE X)
After his career-defining win over ‘DJ’, Moraes efficiently defended his world title in opposition to knockout artist Yuya Wakamatsu final 12 months.
He reminded the Japanese powerhouse why it’s by no means a good suggestion to try to take him down.
The clever world champion was understandably cautious of the challenger’s energy and used his size to maintain him at bay.
To his credit score, ‘Little Piranha’ aggressively pushed ahead and even penetrated Moraes’ defenses along with his punishing strikes.
Wakamatsu was additionally capable of survive the grappling exchanges within the first two rounds. Nonetheless, he made the deadly mistake of attempting to wrestle ‘Mikinho’ in spherical three and paid the last word worth.
After securing a couple of takedowns, the Japanese fighter’s confidence grew and as soon as once more shot for a well-timed double-leg.
He accomplished the try however made the deadly mistake of leaving his neck extensive open for the taking.
Moraes didn’t want a second invitation and latched onto his signature guillotine choke like there was no tomorrow.
Wakamatsu did the proper factor by attempting to posture as much as relieve among the stress, however Mikinho merely adjusted his leverage and realigned his grip like an inescapable Venus flytrap.