Demetrious Johnson Says Rodtang Super-Fight Helped Him Overcome Moraes Rematch

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ONE Flyweight World Champion Demetrious Johnson knows a thing or two about overcoming obstacles. Johnson suffered the first KO loss of his MMA career to then-champion Adriano Moraes in April 2021.

Within a year, he surged back to defeat ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champ Rodtang Jitmuangnon in ONE Championship's first-ever mixed rules super-fight. Then in August 2022, "Mighty Mouse" beat Moraes in a rematch by KO to redeem his previous loss to the Brazilian and win the flyweight strap.

Ahead of Johnson's historic trilogy bout with Moraes at ONE Championship's inaugural US event ONE Fight Night 10 in Colorado at the sold-out 1stBank Center, the MMA GOAT says his super-fight with the Thai megastar helped him become the ONE Flyweight World Champion.

"Sometimes, when you fight the same person, it can almost stop your growth as a mixed martial artist because you're preparing for the same person over and over and over again. After I lost to Adriano, I fought Rodtang. I felt like that kind of gave me a breath of fresh air. It was something totally different," Johnson said.

"After Rodtang, I fought Adriano again. I came up with something different, and now I'm fighting him again. So I just got to go to the training camp and stay healthy, try to be creative, and bring some new tools to the fight. But at the end of the day, it's still a fight."

ONE enters new territory in just a matter of weeks. While Johnson is headlining the card at Denver's 1stBank Center, he believes this could be the start to something huge for the Singapore-based martial arts organization.

"It's a lot of things, but I think this is going to elevate ONE Championship's brand," he said. "It's already sold out. Hopefully, we can continue to get to do more things in the US."