- George Chung
- May 11, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 25, 2023
It’s first foray into the United States at ONE Fight Night 10, available on Prime Video for free instant replay. The American star came out on top with a unanimous decision win over Adriano Moraes.
The ONE Flyweight World Champion had a sensational game plan showing his intellect and incredible skill set. Although the finish did not come, “Mighty Mouse” was satisfied with what he showed inside the Circle.
“So I’m happy with my performance. I beat him up a lot in the clinch, and I was hurting him a lot, and he did a good job of, like, holding. Herb Dean did a good job of breaking us up, but at the same time, I was like, ‘Herb, I’m breaking the body up. Give me my opportunity to get his hands down.’ And I tried to go airborne and hit him with the knee to the chin, and I was shocked, and I thought that I would knock him out, but when I watched the replay, I hit him in the throat. I was like, ‘damn it,’” Johnson said at the post-event press conference.
After his victory, Kairat Akhmetov entered the Circle and had a staredown with Johnson. At the post-event press conference, the flyweight king seemed enthused with the prospect of facing Akhmetov down the road because of the recent win streak he has accumulated.
“Yeah yeah, absolutely. I think Kairat Akhmetov is on a six-fight winning streak. I love when people are on winning streaks because I love taking it away from them. Kairat’s an amazing athlete, very, very strong. I saw him and Reece McLaren in the World Grand Prix back in 2019, I believe. And he’s a good wrestler. You know, I think when I fight him, I’m excited for a new challenge because he brings something different to the table,” Johnson stated.
The answer intrigued everyone, including ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. Heading into the event, Johnson teased that it could possibly be his final match in his illustrious career. ONE’s leader joked if Johnson just admitted that he was not going to retire and instead defend the gold one more time. But “Mighty Mouse” quickly said that decision had yet to be made.
“No, no, no, no. We’ll see you know. We’ll see. I’m still young, talking to my peers, talking to Urijah Faber, you know, I’mma reach out to GSP, I’mma reach out to Khabib Nurmagomedov, I’m gonna talk to these guys. You know, ‘why did you guys stop,’” Johnson continued. “Those guys could’ve kept on fighting, and there comes a point in time, I’m 36 years old, and you know, do I just keep on doing this and give the other athletes the opportunity to beat me and add to their legacy whatever.”
Whether it is the end or not, Johnson’s legacy is secured. He has won major titles in the East and the West, faced the biggest and best competition, and has come out on top more often than not. After closing the trilogy against Moraes, Johnson stands at the top of the mountain and can call his shots for whatever comes next.
“And my legacy here in ONE Championship is just an athlete who came here and worked hard and fought everybody they put in front of me and, you know, very easy to work with too. When they asked me to fight Rodtang, it wasn’t like, ‘well, I want MMA to be first, I think MMA should be first, and then we’d do Muay Thai.’ I was like, ‘whatever you guys want.’ You know, I’m just an easy guy,” Johnson said.
ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III | Post-Event Press Conference
Tune in for the official post-event press conference, featuring ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong along with the superstars of ONE Fight Night 10 on Pri...
