BJJ legend ‘Buchecha’ reveals the start of his grappling journey

BJJ superstar Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida personally revealed the beginnings of his grappling career on a sit-down podcast this week.

‘Buchecha’ began his professional career in Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2002 at the age of 12 after his sister and father introduced him to the sport.

As the story goes, his older sister was the first person to feel an attachment to the art form when she was just 15. And while the sport made an impact on her life, it had a ripple effect on Buchecha’s family.

Joining the Jaxxon Podcast this week, the 32-year-old grappling legend explained how his father first persuaded him to try out jiu-jitsu:

“You know what, you should try too. But I was like 12 years old, you know, I don’t care. But at the end of the day, I was you know, it was a good time to stay with to spend with my dad and my sister.”

Eventually, all three family members joined in all the fun and purchased their first gi at a well-known jiu-jitsu academy in Sao Paulo.

Three years later, Buchecha would find himself at Checkmat BJJ training under Rodrigo Cavaca, a former IBJJF World Champion.

After doing whatever he could for the sport by becoming a world record 17-time BJJ world champion, the opportunity finally arrived for ‘Buchecha’ to shift his career towards MMA.

He won his professional MMA debut back in September 2021 against Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva and hasn’t looked back since.

He’s now undefeated with a heavyweight record of 4-0 and gearing up for one of the biggest challenges of his career.

On August 4, he returns to action to face Senegalese power hitter ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane in a heavyweight brawl at ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs. Grigorian on Prime Video.

Just like all of ONE Championship’s Amazon cards, ONE Fight Night 13 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.