"It’s good to know that they’re watching the beginning of my career" - 'Buchecha' proud to attract the attention of Bhullar and Malykhin

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is just starting his mixed martial arts journey, but two of the best heavyweights in the world are already taking notice.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend recently claimed his third win in as many fights when he knocked out Simon Carson at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen last Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In the post-fight interview, Almeida gushed about how ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar and ONE interim titleholder Anatoly Malykhin took notice of his MMA exploits.

‘Buchecha’ is already considered one of the greatest submission grapplers in history, but he’s not one to gloat about his accomplishments. When asked if it was nice to hear Bhullar and Malykhin’s comments, the 17-time BJJ world champion said:

“Oh, man. How can I say no? So even if I say no, I would be lying. So for me to hear about these guys telling such good things about me, about my career. It's a big honor because like both of them are really big names in the sport. And it's good to know that they're watching the beginning of my career. So of course, that means a lot and I feel honored.”

Almeida dispatched Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva and Kang Ji Won via first-round submission in 2021, and his stoppage of Carson was his first knockout win in the circle..

The hulking heavyweight needed less than three minutes to assert his dominance over the Australian veteran. After securing a takedown, ‘Buchecha’ wailed on Carson, prompting referee Olivier Coste to put a stop to the match 2:24 into the opening round.

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‘Buchecha’ wants a top-level match against Odie Delaney

While Almeida’s proud to have gotten the nod of Bhullar and Malykhin, there’s one more heavyweight he has a ton of respect for.

Odie Delaney is another mixed martial artist climbing through the heavyweight ranks and ‘Buchecha’ has nothing but love for the mental health advocate.

Delaney and Almeida previously trained together at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida and they have watched each other closely in their rise at ONE Championship.

‘The Witness’ is 2-0 in his ONE Championship run and is also coming off a submission victory of his own when he tapped out Iranian brawler Mehdi Barghi at ONE 158.

Both Delaney and ‘Buchecha’ expressed their willingness to step inside the circle and face off against each other, but they’re only open to do that when they both reach the top of the division.

"He did a good, he did really well. Mehdi is really tough so I knew they would like to wrestle, fight, they would strike a lot. And yeah, just like he said, you know, maybe we are going to face each other like at the top, really soon. I hope, it will be really interesting too, you know. He's really a tough guy and I'm happy for him too. He got two victories in the organization. So he's doing great, I'm happy for him,” said Almeida.