One Championship is staging its return to U.S.
airwaves in April with a tentpole card.
The organization announced via press release on Friday that it
would be holding an event on April 7 that will be shown in prime
time on American television. The card, which will take place on a
Wednesday night for U.S.-based audiences, will contain a title
fight and several major names. The currently unnamed show draws a
headliner of Adriano
Moraes (18-3) vs. Demetrious
Johnson (30-3-1) for the One flyweight title. The two were
originally slated to meet in February, but the promotion pushed it
back for undisclosed reasons.
Moraes recaptured his title in 2019 against Geje
Eustaquio by decision, winning it back from a man that took it
from him in 2018. Moraes became a three-time champ at the One
flyweight division by beating Eustaquio, and his first defense will
come against a pound-for-pound ranked opponent. “Mikinho” has
finished his opponents in six of his last nine victories, tapping
out Danny
Kingad, Tilek
Batyrov and Eugene
Toquero along the way. Moraes has never been finished as a pro,
and it will have been over two years since his last bout when he
meets Johnson.
Since his trade from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Johnson has
encountered little difficulty advancing through the ranks. A tricky
first round against Yuya
Wakamatsu led to a submission in the following frame in his
promotional debut. Going on to win the tournament to earn a title
shot against Moraes, “Mighty Mouse” beat Tatsumitsu
Wada and Kingad to put a stamp on his 2019 season. Like his
foe, Johnson did not compete in all of 2020.
Additionally, the organization will be slotting Eddie
Alvarez (30-7, 1 NC) in the co-main event of this card, pitting
him against former title challenger Iuri
Lapicus (14-1). Unlike Johnson, the former UFC champ Alvarez
hit a major speed bump in his first trip to the One ring, when
Timofey
Nastyukhin knocked him out in the first round. “The Underground
King” returned against ex-champ Eduard
Folayang and submitted him in the opening round. Lapicus, on
the other hand, most recently suffered his first career loss at the
hands of Christian
Lee in a title fight, as Lee flattened him three seconds slower
(2:19) than Alvarez finished Folayang (2:16).
Finally, the promotion placed a major muay Thai matchup on the card
in its flyweight category, pitting champ Rodtang Jitmuangnon
against Jacob Smith out of the U.K. in a non-title affair. One will
add more bouts at a later date, and it will be running a live media
conference call on Jan. 27 to speak to the fighters and potentially
fill out the card.