Demetrious Johnson & Eddie Alvarez Return in April

Dec 2, 2017; Detroit, MI, USA; Eddie Alvarez (red gloves) fights Justin Gaethje (blue gloves) during UFC 218 at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

ONE Championship has announced the returns of marquee duo Eddie Alvarez and Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, during Friday’s ONE: Unbreakable card.

At a yet-to-be-named event on April 7th, former longtime UFC Flyweight Champion Mighty Mouse will challenge ONE flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, while Eddie Alvarez will take on Moldova’s Iuri Lapicus.

Also announced for the card is a non-title Muay Thai bout, with Thai superstar and ONE Flyweight Muay Thai Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon facing off against Jacob Smith of the UK.

While the location of the event is yet to be announced, it has been confirmed that the card will air live in the US during primetime, broadcast on TNT. The timeslot is the first real show of intent from ONE, who have long teased of their ambition to test the US market. With their two biggest American names in tow, they are about to do just that.

Mighty Mouse has competed three times under the ONE banner since the now-infamous trade deal sending Ben Askren to the UFC, winning the ONE Flyweight Grand Prix and the rights to the aforementioned title shot. He was last seen back in October 2019, defeating Danny Kingad in the grand prix tournament final.

Former UFC lightweight champion Alvarez, on the other hand, has had a mixed start to his ONE tenure, starting with a shock TKO loss to rising start Timofey Nastyukhin on debut in March 2019. The now 37-year-old rebounded in August of that year with an emphatic submission win over Filipino legend Eduardo Folayang, in the ONE lightweight grand prix semi-final. ‘The Underground King’ then withdrew from the tournament due to injury, and hasn’t been seen since.

Alvarez will have his hands full, with Iuri Lapicus looking to rebound from his first career loss, an unsuccessful ONE lightweight title challenge against Christian Lee at ONE: Inside the Matrix in October.