Adriano Moraes believes Buchecha has other ONE Championship heavyweights "intimidated"

ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes believes his good friend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has the other heavyweights in ONE Championship intimidated.

Almeida’s intimidation factor will be put to the test when he takes on Australia’s Simon Carson at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen on June 3, Friday, which will be broadcast from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

‘Buchecha’ is arguably the greatest submission grappler in history with 17 Brazilian jiu-jitsu world titles to his name. He’s since made a successful transition into mixed martial arts with two of his wins coming by way of submission.

According to Adriano Moraes, it’s Almeida’s immense caliber in submission grappling that has the whole division on its toes.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Moraes said heavyweights are prone to look for knockouts but will be in shambles if their opponents look to bring the match to the ground:

"' Buchecha’ is a super jiu-jitsu champion, a living legend of the sport. This certainly intimidates the heavyweights because, in this division, they are always looking for the knockout, the striking, and having a fighter of that caliber in the ground game is certainly intimidating. In addition to ‘Buchecha’ being at his peak, he is a new guy and continues to evolve daily. So, I have no doubt that all this leaves opponents of the division intimidated.”

‘Buchecha’ made his MMA debut in September 2021 where he submitted Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva in the first round of their match. He then followed it up with a mother first-round submission win over South Korean knockout artist Kang Ji Won in December.

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Adriano Moraes says ‘Buchecha’ should get a few more wins before taking a title match

Although Almeida has certainly made his presence felt in the MMA world, Adriano Moraes says the heavyweight grappler should get a few more wins before he challenges for the ONE heavyweight world title.

‘Buchecha’ is 2-0 in his MMA career, but Moraes wants to see his friend get a bit more wins. He even pointed out how Brock Lesnar’s quick path to the title resulted in a short reign.

Lesnar became the UFC heavyweight world champion in 2008 when he defeated Randy Couture via knockout. His reign ended in 2010 after losing to Cain Velasquez via knockout in his third title defense.

“Brock Lesnar did that but lost the title soon after and his career also ended shortly after. So, I believe that ‘Buchecha' should take on a little more baggage and feel better. With a few more victories, I believe he can fight for the title and remain champion for a long time.”