Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida willing to fight Anatoly Malykhin despite lack of animosity

Fighting without conflict is all just part of the career choice for Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu great is on track for a showdown for the ONE heavyweight world title sometime in the future.

However, the Brazilian heavyweight fighter has no quarrel with the current interim heavyweight champion 'Sladkiy' Anatoly Malykhin. Even without the animosity, he would be willing to face him. Speaking in an interview with SCMP MMA, Almeida explained:

"Of course, if we have to fight, we will do it. It’s part of the job. I really like him, he’s a guy that works really hard and he deserves everything he’s getting."

Watch the full interview below:

Russia's Anatoly Malykhin has a world title unification bout scheduled against ONE heavyweight king Arjan 'Singh' Bhullar. The heavy-handed heavyweights will meet at ONE Fight Night 8, booked for March 24. This event can be enjoyed on Amazon Prime Video.

Once an undisputed world champion has been crowned, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida may just have the inside track on challenging for the gold.

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Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is on the path to a world title shot

With his perfect record thus far in MMA, the submission grappling star is on his way to challenging for the heavyweight crown in ONE Championship. Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida collected dozens of world championships in Brazilian jiu-jitsu before transitioning to MMA.

Since transitioning to MMA in 2021, Almeida has gone a perfect 4-0 in ONE Championship, with all victories being earned by way of first-round stoppages, either via submission or TKO.

In the above interview with SCMP MMA, the undefeated MMA heavyweight said:

“Moving forward, the ultimate goal is to fight for the belt, so I want to fight different opponents. As I said before, I want to fight them all, all the heavyweights before I fight for the belt."

Almeida only wants new opponents en route to the world title, no rematches for him. Almeida continued:

"That’s my goal. So fighting someone that I already fought, I think it doesn’t make sense in my career right now.”

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is proud that he was able to convert his world-class submission grappling skills to MMA. The Brazilian heavyweight will likely be back in the ONE circle soon in a high-stakes matchup.