A mouth-watering fight card on ONE Championship on TNT 1 on 7th April featured former UFC superstars Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez but unfortunately, both of them failed to taste victory.
Demetrious Johnson, who was the first flyweight champion at UFC, was featured in the Flyweight Championship clash against current champion Adriano Moraes in Kallang, Singapore.
Having left UFC all the way back in 2018 after losing to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, the “Mighty Mouse” climbed the ONE Championship ladder and became the winner of the ONE Championship Flyweight Grand-Prix in October 2019.
“Underdog” ONE Flyweight Champion Moraes defeats Johnson in 2nd round
Coming off of a stunning track record, hopes were high on Johnson to become the new flyweight champion, but his Brazillian opponent, who was touted as the underdog in the fight, gained the upper hand.
After finishing the first round om top position, Moraes took a slow start in the second round but attempted a flying knee at Johnson. Although the American switched levels to avert it, a right uppercut floored Johnson near the cage.
Moraes, now 19–3 in his MMA career, followed up with another knee to Johnson’s face, then landing a barrage of punches to finish the fight at the 2:24 minute mark, handing Johnson, who has now dropped to 30–4–1, his first career knockout.
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
Following his defeat, Johnson took to Twitter to congratulate Moraes, but hinted at a rematch as well.
“all good everyone back in the hotel. watch the fight. shitty day in the office. congratz to @adrianomkmoraes we will be back,” the 34-year-old tweeted.
all good everyone back in the hotel. watch the fight. shitty day in the office. congratz to @adrianomkmoraes we will be back.
— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouse) April 8, 2021
ALSO READ: Demetrious Johnson says he has nothing left to prove to Dana White
Disqualification of Eddie Alvarez raises controversy
A former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez was featured in the co-main event of his third ONE Championship event after a year and eight months of hiatus, against Moldovan fighter Iuri Lapicus, who currently hails from Italy.
Within the first minute of the opening round, Alvarez completely overpowered Lapicus and had him on the ground and was connecting punches.
However, the Italian turned his head and as a result, “The Underground King”s punches were landing at the back of Lapucis’ head. The referee called a halt to the match and Alvarez suffered a DQ, marking the 8th defeat of his career (30–8).
Should Eddie Alvarez have been DQ'd for this? 🧐 @Ealvarezfight @tntdrama #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT pic.twitter.com/pdNYqaOfeJ
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 8, 2021
Check out the complete ONE Championship on TNT 1 results below:
- Adriano Moraes def. Demetrious Johnson by Knockout (knee & punches) at 2:20 of Round 2
- Iuri Lapicus def. Eddie Alvarez by DQ (Illegal strikes)
- Raimond Magomedaliev def. Tyler McGuire by Decision (Unanimous)
- Enriko Kehl def. Chingiz Allazov by Decision (Split)
- Oumar Kane def. Patrick Schmid by TKO (punches) at 1:48 of Round 1
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