Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida says "no problem" if he can’t take Kirill Grishenko down

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is ready for the toughest test of his mixed martial arts career thus far.

After three incredibly dominant performances against Anderson Silva, Kang Ji Won, and Simon Carson in the span of nine months, Almeida will return to the circle against former interim heavyweight world title challenger Kirill Grishenko.

As a 17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, ‘Buchecha’ has barreled through his opponents by getting them to the ground where his expertise lies. However, his ONE on Prime Video 1 opponent is a well-versed wrestler with knockout power. The mighty Belarusian is similarly experienced in MMA with a record of 5-1. His lone loss came to ONE’s interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.

While Almeida’s bread and butter is his ground game, the BJJ icon is comfortable no matter where the fight goes on Friday. Speaking to ONE ahead of his return to the circle, Almeida said:

“I think it will be a fight where whoever has the best strategy and follows the plan will do well. Of course, he's going to use his wrestling to avoid the ground fight, and I'm going to try to use my jiu-jitsu to take him to the ground and use my best weapons against him. So, I believe that whoever manages to impose their strategy will win this fight. Or, as there are two grapplers, it can end up being a striking fight.”

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‘Buchecha’ is ready to strike with Kirill Grishenko at ONE on Prime Video 1

While ‘Buchecha’ has been insanely dominant through his first three appearances, the Brazilian heavyweight has seen some criticism come his way over a perceived lack of striking skills. Almeida did earn a TKO in his last outing at ONE 158 in June, but it was by way of ground-and-pound after taking down his opponent.

Almeida is yet to be truly tested on his feet. That could change when he squares off against Kirill Grishenko at U.S. primetime. No matter where the fight goes, ‘Buchecha’ is ready, even if it means the two fighters foregoing grappling exchanges for a stand-up scrap:

“We'll see how the fight goes, but I'm prepared for anything. If I can't take the fight to the ground, that’s no problem because I'm used to training with the best strikers and I'm fighting them for three rounds. I'm feeling very comfortable in all aspects of the fight.”