“When the time comes, I'll be ready” - 'Buchecha' taking his time to work towards world title

Marcus Almeida, known in the combat sports world as ‘Buchecha’ has already made quite the impression on fans and fellow fighters ever since his promotional debut at ONE: Revolution in 2021. Almeida has three straight wins in three fights, all finishes and all in the very first round.

With only three fights and just under eight minutes of total cage time, ‘Buchecha’ has already made the case to be a legitimate heavyweight contender. However, the 17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion has no intention of rushing his climb up the ladder.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Almeida was asked who he would rather face between reigning heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar and the current interim heavyweight world titleholder Anatoly Malykhin. The Brazilian phenom responded:

“You know, to be honest, just like I told you, I don't even think about the belt right now. And I don't know maybe when it's time for me to fight for the belt, maybe somebody else might have their belt, you know what I mean? So I don't think too much about possibilities like that. So when my time comes to fight for the belt, then I will start to think about that.”

While ‘Buchecha’ many not feel ready to jump the line and fight for a world title, the BJJ wizard believes it is just a matter of time. When the time comes, the 32-year-old will have both the experience and the confidence to take him to the top of the mountain:

“So when the time comes, I'll be ready. The more time I'm away from the belt, the more experience I'm getting. It's not too bad at all, I can wait.”

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Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida has no intention of rushing his long-awaited MMA career

Competing in submission grappling for over 10 years before making the jump to mixed martial arts, 'Buchecha' is not the type of fighter to rush into anything. Staying focused on the next task at hand, Almeida will look towards ONE gold only when the timing feels right for him:

“But right now, I'm focused only on my next step, my next goal, my next opponent. Then after that, it's time to think about what's going to be the next step. But I'm not in a rush. I'm not rushing. I waited a long time to start my MMA career.”

The Brazilian’s next task at hand will be going up against Belarusian Kirill Grishenko. With the skills to get it done on the mat and on the feet, the former ONE world title challenger will be Almeida’s toughest test yet. The two will square off as part of the ONE 160 main card on August 26.