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Before he shifted his full focus to MMA, ONE heavyweight MMA contender Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida made a name for himself as one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes the world has ever seen.
The Brazilian icon went on to become one of the most winningest superstars in the sport, becoming a 17-time BJJ world champion.
‘Buchecha’, of course, has figured in plenty of jaw-dropping battles throughout his decorated career with victories over some of the biggest names in the grappling arts in both gi and nogi.
However, he did finish his BJJ career on a losing note, as he fell short against the enigmatic Gordon Ryan in the 2019 ADCC World Championship’s daunting Absolute division.
After a grueling 20-minute war of attrition, ‘Buchecha’ narrowly loss the match due to a negative point.
Speaking with MMA royalty Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson on the Jaxxon Podcast, ‘Buchecha’ revealed why he’s not particularly keen on running it back with Gordon Ryan in an all-grappling affair.
“I think it’ll be more for my ego, you know, because I lost the fight was kind of like a close fight. It's not really in my plans right now because MMA is so hard, There is so much to train and if I want to like fight him, of course. I want to give my best and I want to go there 100 percent. So to do that, I would like to focus at least like three to four months in training camp.”
Here’s the epic showdown between ‘Buchecha’ and Gordon Ryan:
‘Buchecha’ wants to bounce back after absorbing first loss of his MMA career
As expected, the battle-tested ‘Buchecha’s immaculate grappling skills translated well to MMA.
The American Top Team and Evolve MMA product won his first four MMA bouts by way of first-round finishes.
‘Buchecha’s momentum, though, got stifled by bruising heavyweight ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane at ONE Fight Night 13 last year. The Senegalese wrestler nullified the Brazilian’s best weapons and ended his unbeaten streak after a three-round beatdown.
In the same interview, ‘Buchecha’ reflected on the setback and took it in stride:
“So there was a lot to learn, but it was a good experience to fight three rounds because the other four fights I finished them in the first round.”
Watch Marcus Almeida’s full interview on the Jaxxon Podcast:
