Demetrious Johnson not thinking about legacy, just title in Adriano Moraes rematch at ONE on Prime Video 1

It’s been more than 15 months since Demetrious Johnson went through something he’d never experienced before in a fight. Next month, he has a shot at redemption – and on a reasonably massive platform.

In April 2021, Johnson challenged Adriano Moraes for the ONE Championship bantamweight title and in a stunner, was taken out with a knee to the head. Moraes (20-3) defended the belt in March, and now he’ll have to content with Johnson (23-4-1) and his plans for comeuppance.

Moraes and Johnson headline ONE Championship’s first event that will get a live broadcast on Amazon Prime Video. The card takes place Aug. 26 (Aug. 27 locally) at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

“It’s amazing to fight on Amazon Prime – it’s a great platform,” Johnson said at a Wednesday news conference for the event in Los Angeles. “To be able to give the audience a chance to watch the fight live in the U.S. time zone, it’s going to be good for me and for them.”

Specifically, Johnson hopes what’s good for him is some payback in the rematch. His loss to Moraes was his first in nearly three years – and that one came under some debatable scoring when he dropped a split decision to Henry Cejudo and lost his the UFC flyweight title he’d held for nearly six years and a promotional record 11 title defenses.

But including his setback to Cejudo, in Johnson’s three losses before the Moraes fight, he never had been finished.

“What do I think should be different? Should be different? I should be winning,” Johnson said. “Obviously, Adriano is not an easy fight. He’s definitely got the range advantage on me. I’d like to implement my style. A fight is supposed to be a battle, a struggle between two people. For me, I like to get in there and fight – mix it up.

“It’s no (secret) he likes to use his movement to catch (opponents) – how he caught me last time. So this time, I have to pull myself back. I train for eight to 10 weeks – I ain’t got time to play these games. I just want to get in there and fight. I’m just going to take my time and see where it goes.”

A win for Johnson – he was as much as an 8-1 favorite in the first fight with Moraes and likely will be favored again, despite the first result – would give him titles in two of the world’s biggest promotions. Adding a ONE belt to his UFC title resume would be a major accomplishment at 35.

But Johnson said the win and the belt is of the utmost importance, and everyone else can figure out where that puts him in the pantheon of all-time greats.

“For me, winning the title is just going to cement – I guess you’d say my legacy, but I like to let the (MMA) community decide what my legacy is, because everybody was like, ‘Oh, you’re the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world,’” Johnson said. “I don’t think that – I get beat up at the gym all the time from my coach. But for me, it’s just going out there and trying to add another title and add it to my collection.”