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Brazilian jiu-jitsu GOAT Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is in awe of the incredible development of ‘The Gentle Art’ over the years.
During his interview with the Jaxxon Podcast, the ONE heavyweight contender compared the status of the sport during his era when he first immersed himself against the current state of it, where countless people are now enjoying and making a living out of the traditional grappling art.
‘Buchecha’ stated:
“It's amazing to see how much jiu-jitsu has grown from what it was when I started. I was at like an Expo, and they had some jiu-jitsu booths there, and it was like amazing."
He added:
“There were like a lot of people, thousands of people like walking in the shops, there were workshops, tournaments, so it was good to see like everybody coming from the whole world to Vegas to see like such event like that. So it was good to be part of that.”
The Brazilian superstar is also part of this enormous growth of the sport, as he became a 17-time IBJJF world champion, most notably setting the record for the most number of openweight division titles with six.
Alongside Almeida, ONE Championship has also championed the sport by spotlighting it through submission grappling matches featuring the best BJJ athletes in the world.
In fact, the promotion now boasts four submission grappling world champions: Mikey Musumeci, Kade Ruotolo, Tye Ruotolo, and Danielle Kelly.
Buchecha now finds more challenges in MMA training compared to BJJ training
With all of his success in BJJ, Buchecha also admitted that MMA training gives him more challenge compared to doing jiu-jitsu drills, adding that it now feels repetitive.
The American Top Team and Evolve MMA affiliate also believes that he has nothing else to achieve in the sport because of his accomplishments.
Almeida also continues to improve his striking skills by getting his reps in Phuket, Thailand, for a potential return in the promotion for his next fight.
Currently, he has four wins, all first-round finishes, and one loss from his last appearance on the global stage.
