'Buchecha' lists down ONE Championship fighters who impressed him the most in 2022

ONE heavyweight contender Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida recently named the three ONE Championship fighters who impressed him the most in 2022.

Within the last year, sports fans have been spoiled with a full array of international talent from various martial arts disciplines, competing at the highest levels against one another on the grand stage.

The historic multi-year agreement between ONE and Amazon Prime Video Sports further grew the promotion’s reach. As a result, North American audiences are given a lens through which they can see the world of pure martial arts at their fingertips.

Impressed by what the promotion and its athletes achieved in 2022, ONE heavyweight contender Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida said that there were three athletes who stood out to him the most last year.

He told ONE:

“Fabrício Andrade, who came on an incredible rise, Anatoly, who always has a great performance when he fights, and Adriano Moraes, who had two fights and had good performances. I think those were the fighters that impressed me the most this year.”

‘Wonder Boy’ Fabricio Andrade and ‘Mikinho’ Adriano Moraes are currently en route to world title fights in 2023.

Andrade is scheduled to rematch ‘Hands of Stone’ John Lineker on February 10 in a bid to capture the vacant bantamweight belt. Moraes, meanwhile, will make his U.S. on-ground debut in Colorado in an epic trilogy bout against Demetrious Johnson on May 5.

No announcements have been made about the return of two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin, but fans anticipate a big year ahead for the Russian powerhouse as he fends off challengers to his two world titles.

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'Buchecha' says the toughest part of being at the top is to stay there

With new world champions being declared left, right, and center last year, 'Buchecha' enlightened fans about the difference between fighting to get to the top versus defending to stay on top.

This past August, the Brazilian superstar revealed to the world that he’s a serious threat in the heavyweight division. Following a strategic performance against Belarusian knockout artist Krill Grishenko at ONE on Prime Video 1, 'Buchecha' might be one fight away from a world title fight.

As a 17-time BJJ world champion, Buchecha understands that while it takes a lot of work to climb the ladder to the top, it’s an entirely different challenge to stay on top.

After transitioning to MMA, the Brazilian grappling legend is letting things take their course. He shared his thoughts on being a world champion, telling this to ONE Championship:

“To get the belt of course is really hard, but the hardest thing is to keep there on the top, in any sport, not just MMA, so that’s how I see it. To get there of course, is gonna be a lot of work, but once you get there, to keep and maintain motivated to train to go fight, defend it, is I think the real hardest part of everything.”