A battle between two of the best flyweights in ONE Championship has been added to the stacked ONE 169: Atlanta card. Former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes and #3-ranked Danny “The King” Kingad are set to clash on U.S. primetime on Friday, November 8, in a high-stakes battle inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia as the world’s largest martial arts organization mounts its third event in North America.

Moraes is no doubt a legend in ONE as one of the longest-reigning World Champions in the promotion’s history. A veteran of 16 thrilling bouts, “Mikinho” held the divisional crown on three separate occasions while facing some of the best talents on the planet.

Adriano Moraes is set to return to the fighting arena after the loss against Demetrious Johnson

In his last appearance at ONE Fight Night 10 in May last year, he squared off against Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the final fight of their trilogy. After knocking each other out with knee strikes in their previous two meetings, the pair went all five rounds in their final bout. Clearly learning from their past mistakes, their fight turned into a chess match that saw “Mighty Mouse” emerge victorious to cap off their brilliant rivalry.

The Brazilian now moves on to his next challenge in his quest to reclaim ONE gold. Standing in his way will be a former foe in Team Lakay’s Kingad.

“The King” is a perennial contender in the division, winning 11 of his 15 bouts in ONE. The ONE Flyweight MMA World Grand Prix finalist has never lost back-to-back matches in ONE, but he has struggled to string together wins in his last five bouts.

He last fought in January, where he suffered a heartbreaking loss to now the #2-ranked Yuya Wakamatsu at ONE 165. The Filipino standout will no doubt be eager to hit two birds with one stone by getting back in the win column and avenging the only stoppage loss of his career.

At ONE: LEGENDS OF THE WORLD back in November 2017, the Team Lakay representative was riding high on a three-bout win streak and was granted an opportunity to face the divisional king at the time, Moraes. Unfortunately, the match was short-lived, as the defending champ found the submission in the very first round.

High stakes at ONE 169: Atlanta with multiple world title fights

Since then, their paths have diverged, with Moraes mostly fighting with gold on the line while Kingad fought rising contenders as he sought to prove himself worthy of another World Title opportunity.

Winning against Moraes will definitely put his name at the top of potential candidates of challengers for Demetrious Johnson’s prestigious belt. However, Moraes is also looking to reclaim the world title that was almost synonymous with his name after holding it for such a long period of time.

Johnson has yet to give any news about his MMA future, but with the division moving soon, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the living legend make his presence felt soon enough.

ONE 169: Atlanta will feature at least four World Title bouts, headlined by three-division MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin defending his heavyweight belt against Senegalese powerhouse “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane.

More fights are expected to fill the rest of the card, so keep checking this space for more updates.