"I want to see him in the title mix" - Rich Franklin on Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida's potential in MMA 

ONE Vice President Rich Franklin is excited about the rise of Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida in the MMA ranks, especially with the crop of talent in the heavyweight division.

Almeida is scheduled to face Hugo Cunha at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on May 20 in a heavyweight MMA bout.

In an interview with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell on Morning Kombat, ’Ace’ explained the current state of the heavyweight division and why it’s a perfect place for Almeida right now.

“I’ve been excited to see 'Buchecha' back. As a fan, I’m sitting here wanting to see 'Buchecha' win because I want to see him in the title mix up here coming in the future. As we know, Arjan Bhullar, all the contract stuff we had going on with him are now settled. He’s back in the mix of things. He’ll be coming back in later this year. We have the interim champ, Anatoly Malykhin… I really like watching Anatoly. We have a good mix of heavyweights at this point in time, so it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens with 'Buchecha' after this and how he starts mixing himself up into heavyweight title hunt.”

Catch the full interview below:

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‘Buchecha’ has a tough road ahead

Since making his MMA debut in 2021, Marcus Almeida has won his two fights in the circle after barely one round. He finished hard-hitters Anderson Silva and Kang Ji Won in under three minutes, living up to his legendary reputation in BJJ.

However, things will only get tougher for him as he climbs the ranks.

Reigning ONE heavyweight world champio, Arjan Bhullar and ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin will soon determine the undisputed king of the division. Both behemoths could pose a threat to Almeida’s pristine MMA record thus far if he ever meets them in the circle.

Meanwhile, ONE light heavyweight and middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder has been looking to chase gold in a third weight class. Fighting a rising star in the division like Almeida could be his ticket to world title contention.

Almeida has stated his interest in a matchup with de Ridder. It would definitely be exciting to see the two elite grapplers mix it up in the circle, no matter what discipline they decide to compete under.