‘Buchecha’ says gaining experience is more important than rushing for a world title shot

17-time BJJ world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida would rather gain as much experience as possible inside the circle before rushing into a world title fight.

On August 4, the undefeated heavyweight prospect will make his long-awaited return for a clash with Senegalese knockout artist Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane. Almeida will go into the bout with four first-round finishes and is on the cusp of a potential ONE heavyweight title opportunity, but the Brazilian submission specialist is in no rush to compete for ONE Championship gold.

Instead, ‘Buchecha’ would prefer to get as much experience inside the cage, perfecting his craft before attempting to claim 26 pounds of ONE gold. Speaking with the promotion, Almeida said:

“At the same time, I gain time in the cage, I gain experience, which I think is the most important thing. I don’t want to speed anything up."

Thus far, ‘Buchecha’ has been able to use his impeccable grappling skills to get the job done in four-straight fights, but his next matchup will come against another grapple-heavy opponent with some serious knockout power.

Heavyweight standout Oumar Kane, better known by MMA fans as ‘Reug Reug,’ has kicked off his own mixed martial arts career with a bang, amassing a 5-1 record with three knockouts under the ONE Championship banner. In his last appearance, Kane took on undefeated scrapper Jasur Mirzamukhamedov and earned a unanimous decision victory, handing the ‘White Tiger’ his first career loss.

Next, ‘Reug Reug’ will attempt to land the biggest win of his combat sports career against one of the most decorated BJJ practitioners of all time.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 13 live and for free in U.S. primetime on August 4.