It will be Morae’s first appearance since suffering a hard-fought five-round defeat to the MMA GOAT Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in their world title trilogy showdown at ONE Fight Night 10.

He is hungry to bounce back and have a shot at the recently vacated throne – but the same can be said for his old rival Kingad.

The Brazilian first clashed with “The King” in 2017 at ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLDwhere he scored a dominant first-round victory to retain the ONE Flyweight MMA world title.

A talented BJJ black belt, Moraes used his elite ground game that night – a strategy he believes will work in this rematch with Kingad. He told onefc.com:

“In the first fight I managed to take him down and work my jiu-jitsu well, so he knows my jiu-jitsu is better than his.

“I’m sure he’s worked a lot on his ground game. But I think the ground game is his weak point, and the strongest part of my game is jiu-jitsu, without a doubt.”

Of course, a lot has changed in the seven years since these men last quit.

Kingad has switched camps from the famous Team Lakay to the new Lions Nation MMA and has been working hard to improve his grappling.

Still, Moraes sees the Filipino star as fundamentally the same fighter – an explosive athlete with a dynamic striking game and decent submission defense.

“Mikinho” described Kingad’s strengths and weaknesses:

“His strong point is undoubtedly his striking. He combines wushu with kickboxing very well. He has very fast hands, punches to the body and head and also has quick kicks to the legs, body and head.

“He’s a very dynamic athlete in striking. He has some wrestling scrambles that are very characteristic of Team Lakay, his former team, so he defends well in jiu-jitsu. But that’s what I’m going to work on to counter-attack.

“And the part that leaves the most to be desired is Muay Thai, the clinch part, the use of angles and knees. And, of course, jiu-jitsu. I think jiu-jitsu is his weakness.”