‘Buchecha’ eyeing spot on ONE Championship’s first U.S. card in Colorado

Seventeen-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida hopes to hear his name called when ONE Championship begins to round out the card for its highly-anticipated debut in North America.

The promotion recently announced they will head to the mainland for the very first time, invading the 1stBank Center in Colorado for ONE on Prime Video 10. The event, expected to be headlined by a flyweight title trilogy fight between reigning champion Demetrious Johnson and former titleholder Adriano Moraes, is yet to announce any other participants for the event.

Speaking with ONE Championship, ‘Buchecha’ shared his desire to be part of the festivities on May 5:

“In May, it will be ONE’s first event in the United States, where I’ve lived for 12 years. I became an American [citizen], so it would be very special to fight on this card.

“I know that there are a lot of people who will fight on this card and nothing has been talked about yet, but it would be really special.”

In less than a year, Almeida has earned four first-round finishes inside the Circle, his most recent and most impressive came against one-time interim heavyweight world title challenger Kirill Grishenko at ONE on Prime Video 1. ‘Buchecha’ only needed 64-seconds to make the Belarusian tap with a slick heel-hook.

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‘Buchecha’ believes Amir Aliakbari may be next in line for a heavyweight title shot

Marcus Almeida is gunning for a heavyweight world title opportunity before the end of 2023 but sees another potential contender in Amir Aliakbari.

"I think he's a great candidate to fight for the belt. Maybe he'll even be next for the belt, doing a rematch against Anatoly. Because, in my opinion, the fight between Anatoly and Arjan will not happen."

Aliakbari scored a big first-round knockout of former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera at ONE 164 to close out 2022. It was the Iranian’s second-straight win by way of knockout, making him a viable No. 1 contender. The question is, will the heavyweight division have a clear world champion for Aliakbari to challenge?

With reigning champion Arjan Bhullar on the shelf since winning the title in May 2021, interim titleholder Anatoly Malykhin has been making history, capturing two world titles in 2022 and bagging ONE Championship’s Fighter of the Year honors.