BJJ icon ‘Buchecha’ reminisces his 11th world title and “becoming the greatest world champion in history”

ONE heavyweight MMA contender, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida, traveled down memory lane in one of his recent posts on Instagram, as he posted a throwback photo of his triumph in the IBJJF World Championships in 2018.

The 33-year-old BJJ savant shared the photo of his winning moment and wrote a lengthy caption to the post, saying:

“That moment when you break a record and become the greatest world champion in the history of the sport! At that exact moment, I had just written my name forever in the history of Jiu Jitsu, becoming the greatest world champion in history, winning my 11 World Title as a Black Belt. This was never my goal when I started competing but things kept happening until a moment it became a goal, an obsession, and a dream! After this achievement, I realized that I wasn’t going after any more records, and none of that mattered anymore, I wanted so much to overcome myself, and I did so the following year, winning my 12th and 13th Title.”

That iconic photo of Almeida celebrating his 11th triumph in the prestigious jiu-jitsu tournament, where he defeated João Gabriel de Oliveira e S. Rocha in the ultra heavyweight final. Because of his sustained success at the highest level of the Gentle Art.

‘Buchecha’ also explained how he was able to reach enormous success and set multiple records, which include being a 17-time BJJ world champion. He continued:

“Many ask me what the secret was, it’s difficult to have that answer but throughout my career I realized that the combination of when you love something, work hard for it, with a plan, an objective, that would be a path to success, be it on the mats or in anything in life! Find your reasons and chase your dreams and never let anyone tell you otherwise! It’s possible!”

After his success in the grappling world, the American Top Team and Evolve MMA representative smoothly transitioned into MMA and officially joined the world’s largest martial arts organization in 2020.

He quickly collected four victories and defeated Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva in September 2021 at ONE: Revolution, Kang Ji Won in December 2021 at ONE: Winter Warriors, Simon Carson in June 2022 at ONE 158, and Kirill Grishenko in August 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 1.

---

‘Buchecha’ works on his striking skills with continuous training of Muay Thai in Phuket

Almeida’s win streak and immaculate record were snapped by Oumar Kane in his latest outing in the promotion when they faced each other at ONE Fight Night 13 in August 2022 and received a unanimous decision victory.

Despite this setback, ‘Buchecha’ continues to work on his striking skills via Muay Thai, and he continues to devote his time to hone this facet in his combat sports skills after traveling to Phuket, Thailand, and working with Phuket Fight Club head coach Leo Elias.