The ONE Flyweight World Title was up for grabs at ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD on Friday, 10 November, and Adriano Moraes proved to the world exactly why he is the reigning and defending titleholder.
The 29-year-old utilized his world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu with precision, and was able to submit local hero Danny “The King” Kingad at the Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, with just 15 seconds left in the first round.
Both the Brazilian and Filipino combatant were tentative and patient when the co-main event began, as neither of the highly-skilled athletes were willing to make a mistake.
With two minutes left in the first frame, Moraes took the bout to the ground and as Kingad looked for an escape, the American Top Team product stepped over and took the back of “The King.”
It did not take long for Moraes to sink his arm under the chin of Kingad and finish the palm-to-palm rear-naked choke.
Referee Yuji Shimada called a stop to the contest at the 4:45 mark of the very first round, declaring Moraes the winner.
This marks the first title defense for Moraes since recapturing the undisputed world title at ONE: KINGS AND CONQUERORS from then-undefeated titleholder Kairat “The Kazakh” Akhmetov in August. He elevates his professional record to 17-2, and waits to see who his next opponent is.
As for Kingad, he has never tasted defeat in his professional career, so this will just be a minor setback. He drops to 8-1, but under the tutelage of Team Lakay Mark Sangiao, the 22-year-old will undoubtedly improve his skills and come back stronger than ever.