“I believe he could already compete for the heavyweight title” – Bibiano Fernandes says ‘Buchecha’ is ready to compete for MMA world title

Bibiano Fernandes believes that Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida already has the tools to contend for a mixed martial arts world title in ONE Championship.

It’s not even a matter of when, but a question of who.

Before ‘Buchecha’ chases gold, though, he must first take on Australian veteran Simon Carson at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen on June 3, Friday, which will be broadcast from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Fernandes said ‘Buchecha’ can already contend for the ONE heavyweight world title and it’ll just boil down to who holds the strap.

Arjan Bhullar is the reigning ONE world heavyweight world champion but Anataloy Malykhin is the interim champion and the two will eventually end up unifying the titles at a later date.

Fernandes pointed out that Almeida’s legendary grappling is enough to pose problems to ONE Championship’s top heavyweights. The Brazilian is, arguably, the greatest submission grappler in history with 17 BJJ world titles under his belt.

Bibiano Fernandes said:

“I believe he could already compete for the heavyweight title. He comes from jiu-jitsu, he already has a legacy and several world titles. So, in my opinion, he should already be fighting for the belt.”

‘Buchecha’ is already a legend in the world of BJJ. However, his MMA career is just starting to take shape. He’s competed twice in MMA now, with both of his wins coming via first-round submission.

His debut saw him submit Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva in September 2021. Almeida then scored another first-round submission when he submitted Kang Ji Won in December of the same year.

---

Bibiano Fernandes sees a potential match between ‘Buchecha’ and Anatoly Malykhin

A heavyweight fighter that Fernandes wants ‘Buchecha’ to face is Russia’s Malykhin. According to Bibiano Fernandes, Malykhin, the ONE heavyweight interim world champion, would be a perfect matchup for Almeida.

Malykhin is 3-0 in his ONE Championship career with all of his wins coming via knockout:

“I think it's time for ‘Buchecha’ to fight against the champion. I would like to see him face the Russian, Anatoly Malykhin. I think ‘Buchecha' has [ways] to submit him, but it would be a fight where ‘Buchecha’ would have to show other skills. So, that would be a fight I would like to see. Since the other fighters are leaving the fights against Buchecha because they are sick or injured, I think it would be a good fight to make happen.”