It’s nearly a year later than expected, but Demetrious Johnson will finally get his shot at ONE flyweight gold.
ONE Championship announced Friday that Johnson — winner of the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix in 2019 — would challenge current champion Adriano Moraes on February 24.
“Save the date! Demetrious Johnson is BACK on 24 February against ONE Flyweight World Champion Adriano Moraes 👑”
There is no location or venue for the fight as of now. However, the event is expected to stream on Bleacher Report Live.
Johnson Gets His Chance At Gold With Another Promotion
Moraes vs. Johnson was originally scheduled for April earlier this year only for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to postpone the event.
“Mighty Mouse” was notably skeptical if he would ever fight again due to the pandemic as he recently pondered other career options.
“I’m going to have to start thinking about something else because it only takes one new virus to wipe out your entire career. I thought, ‘What if I never fight again? What if I never fight again because of COVID-19?’
“I might never fight again, all that needs to happen is COVID 2022, and everything gets shut down, no live events. COVID-19 didn’t really hit me hard. I didn’t care about fighting. I just cared about being with my wife and kids, helping them being successful in their schooling. Obviously, me staying healthy for when the time comes I can be ready to fight. But when the COVID-19 hit, I was more father-retirement mode because when else I’m I going to fight again, I don’t know.”
Fortunately, Johnson will fight in February as he looks to reach the top of the ladder at his new promotion.
The American joined ONE in 2018 and has gone 3-0 culminating in him winning the Flyweight Grand Prix after outpointing Danny Kingad in October last year.
Moraes, meanwhile, will be looking for his first successful title defense. The Brazilian won the flyweight title after outpointing Geje Eustaquio in their rematch back in January 2019.
