Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida excited for Renato Canuto’s ONE debut, wants to see "friend" transition to MMA

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is happy that his friend and multi-time grappling world champion Renato Canuto has found his way to the global stage of ONE Championship.

At ONE 160, Canuto will make his promotional debut in a submission grappling bout against Valdir Rodrigues. Their match will open the August 26 card, which will take place inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Speaking with SCMP MMA, Almeida offered a preview of what fans can expect to see when Canuto steps inside the circle. 'Buchecha' also hopes that the 26-year-old will follow his path of making a transition to MMA.

‘Buchecha’ said:

“I know my friend Renato Canuto will be fighting,” he said. “Man, this guy is a showman, always when he steps on the mat. You can expect [to see] like a showman, like a show happening. So I think this time it's not going to be different. He's got the opportunity on the big stage, he's been doing this his whole life. I'm sure he's going to pull up a good fight and do really well, like what he does always. So I want to see him with the four-ounce gloves fighting in MMA as well. So it will be really interesting.”

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'Buchecha’ looking to continue his rise in MMA

Marcus Almeida is undefeated since transitioning to MMA, and his continued success could inspire friends like Renato Canuto to follow suit.

The Brazilian grappling legend needed less than three minutes to finish each of his first three bouts. After dominating his first two opponents on the ground, he claimed his first TKO victory at ONE 158.

Almeida admitted that he was looking for another submission against Simon Carson, however, he saw the opportunity to drop bombs on his opponent that eventually forced the referee to stop the contest.

At ONE 161, the Brazilian will face arguably his toughest challenge yet. Former world title contender Kirill Grishenko will stand across from him in the circle at ONE Championship’s first event on Prime Video.

The event is slated for U.S. primetime on August 26, with all the action coming from inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.