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Mixed martial arts legend Rich Franklin was in complete awe of Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida’s achievements that he couldn’t help but crack open a joke fathers would undoubtedly appreciate.
The interaction between the two happened during the joint press conference between ONE Championship and Amazon at The Novo in Los Angeles this Wednesday.
‘Buchecha’ is one of the most iconic submission grapplers in history, having won 17 BJJ world titles in his storied career. Franklin, who serves as vice president of ONE Championship, was well aware of the heavyweight’s accolades but still felt compelled to give props to the Brazilian grappler.
Rich Franklin said in jest:
“We got ‘Buchecha’ here who has more world titles in grappling than I have pairs of underwear. It's amazing. But seeing somebody like that, actually seeing ‘Buchecha’ transition to MMA is an amazing thing to watch. I've still yet to actually see him escape the first round in the competition, so I'll be looking forward to that at some point in time.”
Almeida transitioned into mixed martial arts in September 2021 and looked nothing short of unstoppable in the three bouts he’s fought. The submission expert has three finishes in his budding MMA career, all of which happened in the opening round.
His first two wins were submission victories over well-known brawlers Anderson 'Braddock' Silva, and Kang Ji Won in 2021. ‘Buchecha’ then scored the first knockout win his career when he stopped Australian veteran Simon Carson this past June.
Rich Franklin has always been a fan of ‘Buchecha’
Rich Franklin isn’t shy when it comes to praising the top athletes of ONE Championship, and the former UFC middleweight world champion admitted that he’s always admired ‘Buchecha’.
In an interview with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell of Morning Kombat, ‘Ace’ said Almeida has what it takes to become an elite MMA talent and that ONE Championship’s land of giants is the best place for the Brazilian grappler.
Franklin said he looks forward to Almeida barging into the world title picture and rumbling with either ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar or ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.
“I’ve been excited to see 'Buchecha' back. As a fan, I’m sitting here wanting to see 'Buchecha' win because I want to see him in the title mix-up here coming in the future... We have a good mix of heavyweights at this point in time, so it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens with 'Buchecha' after this and how he starts mixing himself up into the heavyweight world title hunt.”
Watch the full interview below:
