“It’s very scary” - Brandon Vera talks about 'Buchecha' and other elite grapplers in ONE

Filipino-American MMA icon Brandon Vera is astounded by the new generation of elite grapplers currently competing in ONE Championship. Leading the new breed of world-class grapplers is Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida.

Since the Singapore-based promotion has made concerted efforts to bolster their submission grappling divisions in the past year, the level of competition within the organization has been on the rise.

Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera, a jiu-jitsu black belt and eight-time Grappler’s Quest Champion, couldn’t conjure up the words to express how much the sport has evolved since the early days of jiu-jitsu under Royce Gracie.

In an exclusive interview, Brandon Vera told ONE Championship:

“I really don’t know how to explain it in layman’s terms because somebody like 'Buchecha', somebody of that stature, you know, like the Andre Galvaos, the Gordon Ryans, the Ruotolo brothers, that level of grappling is something different.”

He added:

“The easiest way to explain is if you had an older sibling that would hold you down and say, ‘Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself.’ It’s very scary.”

As Brandon Vera said, it’s scary indeed when you have the Ruotolo brothers submitting jiu-jitsu stars such as Garry Tonon with such efficiency at ONE 157.

These young grapplers are changing the sport with smoother transitions and never-seen-before techniques. A great example of old school vs. new jiu-jitsu is Kade Ruotolo’s grappling match against Shinya Aoki.

Watch Kade go off the wall to control Aoki’s back:

As submission grappling takes on a new shape, ONE Championship will be there to pave its way into the history books.

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Like Brandon Vera, 'Buchecha' believes submission grappling matches are a game-changer for ONE

Like MMA legend Brandon Vera, 17-time jiu-jitsu world champion Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida, believes submission grappling matches are a game-changer.

After watching the grappling bouts at ONE 157, especially the matchup between fellow Brazilian grappler Andre Galvao and two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder, 'Buchecha' said he’s motivated to compete in grappling in ONE Championship.

He told SCMP MMA:

“I really liked it. It made me want to fight the grappling there too and test myself in this format of fighting. It was really interesting. I think ONE and [CEO Chatri Sityodtong] are doing a really amazing job with that. ONE Championship is the place to be. It’s making grappling great again.”

'Buchecha' may have to put grappling on hold for the time being as he picked up a new challenge in the form of MMA. He's set to face Kirill Grishenko at ONE 161 in what will be his fourth MMA appearance inside the circle.