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Undefeated ONE Championship heavyweight and jiujitsu living legend Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida will be fighting his third pro fight at ONE: Eersel vs. Sadikovic. Across the cage from him is 3-1 Senegalese wrestling sensation Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane. This collission of modern-day titans will be one of the featured bouts of the absolutely stacked April 22nd card.
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Senegalese wrestling, Kane's main martial art, is a folk-style type of wrestling that serves as a national sport in Senegal. It employs a lot of clinch work and trips similar to Greco-Roman wrestling. The biggest difference, however, is that Senegalese wrestling allows strikes.
'Reug Reug' has shown his striking prowess in the cage, securing all three of his wins via knockout. Speaking to the South China Morning Post, the former Jiujitsu world champion was asked if he'd be comfortable testing his newly-acquired striking skills against Kane. 'Buchecha', who was recently seen dabbling a lot in Muay Thai, had this to say:
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"Being honest, like, if I see an opening to use my striking, I will. [But] to be hanging there against a heavyweight, it's not a good idea, you know. You can watch all the ONE Championship heavyweight fights, most of them finish off [in the] first round. Either submission or knockout. It's not a good idea to be hanging there and waiting for a big swing that can finish the fight. Any big swing from a heavyweight can decide the fight."
It makes a lot of sense. Heavyweights, particularly those in ONE Championship, are known to pack so much power that they only need a single punch to win a fight. Being a Jiujitsu master of the tallest order, it would be wise for Buchecha to utilize his MMA tools as needed. If opportunities to strike are there, take them with caution. Otherwise, stick to your guns. As far as that goes, the Brazilian's `grappling is his biggest gun in the shed.
"Soon I'm going to be where I want to be" - Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida on his place in the ONE Championship heavyweight hierarchy
When asked on what he thinks of the fact that most fans consider him the current No.1 contender in ONE Championship's heavyweight division, Buchecha is a very humble take on the matter:
"I never really thought about that. I'm just, I'm living the game. I'm learning. That wasn't something that I really think about but of course the organization put me [in] two big challenge. Now, the third challenge, so, I'm not the kind of guy that's gonna be 'no, I don't want to fight this guy', you know. If I want to be good at MMA, I have to fight the best. So I;m fighting everyone. I think Kang [Ji Won] was a big test and he's like, a knockout artist. And I'm just glad that I got the results that I got. And now I'm thinking I'm going the right path. Soon I'm going to be where I want to be."
Despite being considered one of the best grapplers in the sport of mixed martial arts today, the 32-year old undefeated heavyweight never buys into his own hype. Buchecha understands that he is pretty new to the sport and despite himself being a master of masters in jiujitsu, he recognizes that MMA is a completely different game. This mindset, we dare say, will make him even more successful in the future.
