“Even while doing a friendly roll, I can feel that he’s ready to kill” - ‘Buchecha’ describes grappling with Tye Ruotolo

17-time jiu-jitsu world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida recently rolled with grappling phenom Tye Ruotolo in Los Angeles. The Brazilian had nothing but good things to say about the young star’s grappling skills.

Marcus Almeida attended the ONE Championship and Prime Video joint press conference last week and stuck around to meet and train with many of ONE’s star athletes. They included Adriano Moraes and Angela Lee at RVCA, as well as ONE’s latest grappling prodigy, Tye Ruotolo.

Checking out what the young phenom had to offer, Almeida told ONE:

“I was lacking but, it’s true you know, he’s rolling hard but he’s so relaxed that he makes it look easy. You can see that he was going hard, his body was not tense, but active all the time because he was so relaxed. I think that’s why their jiu-jitsu is so different, so aggressive, because they are ready all the time.”

Watch the pair grapple in the ONE video below:

To be able to grapple and receive compliments from one of the world’s greatest jiu-jitsu champions of this generation must have been a real treat to Tye.

Ruotolo’s latest match was against BJJ legend Garry Tonon at ONE:157 this past May. The California native made headlines when he utilized his signature D’Arce choke to tap out ‘The Lion Killer’ in less than two minutes.

Almeida was impressed by Tye’s grappling skills and believes that the kid is headed towards great things in ONE Championship.

---

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is improving his MMA skills every day

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is making strides in MMA every day. After competing in jiu-jitsu most of his life, the Brazilian is learning new skills to add to his toolbox.

With his upcoming fight against Belarusian heavyweight Kirill Grishenko at ONE on Prime Video 1, the 32-year-old BJJ specialist needs more than some excellent ground work to shut him down.

Training out of American Top Team, Almeida seeks to improve his 3-0 record with the help of boxing coach and IBF world champion Ivan de Olivera. He posted a short clip for fans a few days ago showing his progress.

He captioned it:

"Improving every day, thank you @ivan_de_oliveira_boxe 🤜🏼🤛🏼!"

Fans have seen an increasing improvement in his striking, especially with his latest victory against Simon Carson at ONE 158.

The jiu-jitsu star utilized his grappling skills to lock Carson into position to deliver devastating punches from mount. So, once 'Buchecha' figures out his striking game, he’s could well wreak havoc in the heavyweight division.