“I’ve been watching you” - Brandon Vera impressed with Buchecha’s transition to MMA

Former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon 'The Truth' Vera is extremely impressed by the rise of Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida in the MMA ranks. The Filipino-American MMA stalwart has been keeping a close eye on the Brazilian's transition to MMA after dominating the jiu-jitsu world for years.

The 17-time BJJ world champion has run roughshod in ONE's heavyweight division by stopping all three of his opponents since making his debut.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Vera had nothing but praise for Almeida, noting his remarkable ability to use his trademark blast double leg takedown.

Vera said:

"Man, now, like you said, Buchecha is a heavyweight man, he’s flying around submitting all these big, big heavyweights with no problem. Dude his takedowns look so beautiful and it’s not the technique of his takedowns that impress me it is the timing of his takedowns, off the shots. Your back-and-forth motion, very impressive Buchecha, I’ve been watching you."

Indeed, Almeida's takedowns are all perfectly timed. His opponents never see them coming. Once they've been taken down, they stay there until the fight is inevitably stopped.

It would be exciting to see Buchecha square off with Vera inside the Circle one day. Vera will no doubt be the most experienced and most high-level striker Almeida has faced in MMA.

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"They can punish you or submit you gracefully if they want to" - Brandon Vera on elite grapplers like Buchecha in MMA

Speaking further about elite grapplers transitioning to MMA like Buchecha, Brandon Vera expounded on why they are to be feared inside the Circle. To him, there are great grapplers, but also elite grapplers. There's a big difference.

'The Truth' said:

"If you don’t have an answer, you don’t have a counter, if you don’t have a something for when they grab you it’s gonna be a very, very, very long long day because they can punish you or submit you gracefully if they want to."

He further explains:

"That level of jiu-jitsu that those guys have and how they can do that to professional athletes at this level in MMA, that’s the only way I can bring it up so that everybody understands. That level of jiu-jitsu is scary because you see they can do whatever they want with people once they have their hands on you."

'The Truth' speaks, well, the truth. Vera's excellent explanation of elite grapplers in MMA should be taken seriously. BJJ world champions have about a million different ways to inflict pain once they get a hold of a single limb. If you don't have an answer to their tidal wave of attacks, chances are, you won't survive.