ADRIANO Moraes vowed that unlike his second bout against Geje Eustaquio, the final chapter of his trilogy won't go the distance as he prophesized a finish in the early rounds of the main event of ONE: Hero's Ascent.
"It's gonna be finished in the first or second [round], around that. This fight's not gonna go to the judges," he said as the Brazilian aims to reclaim the ONE Flyweight Championship on Friday.
Until now, Moraes (17-3) believes that he won over Eustaquio (11-6) in their duel last June, one which ended in a split decision victory in favor of the Filipino bet.
"I did good work and for me, I won that fight. If you watch the fight again, you can see so many points I did on Geje, which is pretty well and we got the fight of the night that time," said the defiant challenger, who won the first fight back in 2014 in convincing fashion, tapping Eustaquio out with a guillotine choke in the second round.
But that defeat only drove Moraes harder in the buildup for this third faceoff to prove that once and for all, he's the rightful king of the flyweight division.
"I came back to the gym and worked hard on the details of my game. I came back to compete my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and I won the New York Open and I got some tournaments in the United States," he said.
As much as Moraes respects the pedigree of Eustaquio's game, he knows that he has the edge when it comes to hunger, saying, "Geje comes in very hungry and he's a good fighter, but I'm hungry, too."
"In the six years I came to fight in Asia, I'm hungry too. I came from the best gym in the world. I have tough teammates when I fight every day. It's just gonna be one fight for me. I adjusted my game and let's see what's gonna happen on Friday."