“My concern now is my next opponent” - It's one step at a time for title prospect 'Buchecha'

Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida’s performances in the Circle have made him a favorite to challenge for the ONE heavyweight world title in the future. However, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist has no desire to get entangled in a five-round war for the championship strap anytime soon.

The multi-time BJJ world champion wants to take it one step at a time before plotting his final move towards the peak of the promotion’s talented heavyweight division.

'Buchecha' told Sportskeeda MMA:

“I still don't think much about it. Of course, I follow, I watch all the fights of the ONE heavyweights. But fighting for the belt isn't something I'm thinking about right now. My concern now is my next opponent.”

The Sao Paulo native is 2-0 in his professional MMA career, which got underway last year. He recently teased that he'll return to action in early April.

In his debut, the 32-year-old martial artist steamrolled past Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva by utilizing his knowledge on the canvas to dominate the contest. He forced a north-south choke on his compatriot to earn the win.

When 'Buchecha' returned for his second outing, the American Top Team and Evolve MMA standout took out heavyweight title-favorite ‘Mighty Warrior’ Kang Ji Won. Yet again, his grappling proved to be the decisive factor.

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'Buchecha' will wait for the green light from his team of coaches and ONE

Grappling may be his forte, but 'Buchecha' understands that he needs to improve on other aspects of his arsenal if he wants to stand a chance against Arjan ‘Singh’ Bhullar or Anatoly ‘Sladkiy’ Malykhin.

Until then, ‘Buchecha’ wants to rack up more victories, game time and undergo more training sessions to work on his striking, wrestling and other areas.

He added that he'll only think about the heavyweight world title when he gets the all-clear from his coaches or the promotion.

“I'm learning, no rush. When the time comes to fight for the belt, I will fight, but I don't want to speed up this process. I'm making my way, taking it one step at a time, because I think that's the way it has to be done. When the organization and my team believe that I have to fight for the belt, I will fight. But like I said, it's something I don't have to worry about right now.”

While his next appearance is not yet set, fans will certainly be eager to find out when they can see 'Buchecha' in action again.