“My interest and passion for jiu-jitsu keep growing” - BJJ GOAT ‘Buchecha’ puts the work in with the Gracies, Braulio Estima

The combat sports principle of learning and growing is being embodied by Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida after having a recent training session with the BJJ greats, the Gracies, and Braulio Estima.

Almeida happily shared his experience discussing and dissecting techniques with some of the sport’s icons, which, according to him, further ignited his love for the gentle art. The Brazilian superstar shared photos of the training session via Instagram.

He captioned the post with:

It was great to spend hours on the mat, Not training but talking and studying about Jiu Jitsu with all these guys! My interest and passion for Jiu Jitsu keep growing every single day, even after so many Titles and 13 years of Black Belt! Some people say, the real journey starts when we get the Black Belt. One thing I know for sure, it never ends!

Buchecha is widely regarded as the greatest BJJ practitioner, as he became a 17-time world champion. But his humility and passion for the sport remained, which is why he keeps on improving his craft.

The Gracies were the cornerstones of the sport, and Estima, who is a three-time ADCC and three-time IBJJF world champion, was the latest superstar with whom he picked up several valuable lessons.

The 33-year-old signed with the world’s largest martial arts organization in 2021, where he made his professional MMA debut. Almeida quickly picked up four straight victories after beating Anderson Silva (via first-round submission in September 2021), Kang Ji Won (via first-round submission in December 2021), Simon Carson (via first-round TKO in June 2022), and Kirill Grishenko (via first-round submission in August 2022).

Oumar Kane snapped this streak by the American Top Team and Evolve MMA representative in August 2023 after taking a unanimous decision win over the BJJ black belter in their heavyweight clash. That setback has delayed Almeida’s hopes of challenging reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.