Moraes was born in Brasilia, Brazil and abandoned by his mother days after birth. He was taken for an orphanage where he lived for three years before being adopted. He was an active child who partook in judo and capoeira. Wanting to learn how to better defend himself, Moraes took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu. As a member of Constrictor Team, Moraes shined as a submission specialist. Moraes developed his skills and competed in jiu-jitsu tournaments before transitioning into MMA. He made his MMA debut in 2011. He would win the NAGA No-Gi Pro Division Championship in 2014 prior to earning his black belt.
On September 4, 2011, Moraes made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Precol Combat 5 against Ismael Bonfim. Moraes won by first-round submission. He would reel off six more victories before joining the longtime promotion Shooto in 2013.
ONE Championship
On November 15, 2013, Moraes made his ONE Championship debut at ONE: Warrior Spirit. He lost a split decision to Yusup Saadulaev. After back-to-back wins, Moraes met Geje Eustaquio for the vacant ONE flyweight championship. Moraes would capture his first world championship with a second-round guillotine choke on September 12, 2014 at ONE: Age of Champions. Moraes would successfully defend the belt against Riku Shibuya on March 13, 2015 before dropping the title in a close split decision to Kairat Akhmetov on November 21, 2015 at ONE: Dynasty of Champions. On August 13, 2016, Moraes captured gold once again as he became the interim ONE flyweight champion by defeating Tilek Batyrov via rear-naked choke at ONE: Heroes of the World. On August 5, 2017, Moraes and Akhmetov would meet in a flyweight unification bout. Moraes unified the ONE flyweight championship by unanimous decision and became the undisputed champion. On November 10, 2017, Moraes successfully defended the title against Danny Kingad at ONE: Legends of the World by rear-naked choke in the first round. As the first bout of his new contract, Adriano Moraes is scheduled to defend his title against ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion and former UFC Flyweight ChampionDemetrious Johnson at on April 11, 2020.
