‘Buchecha’ says the ‘best way’ to show respect to an opponent is to put up a good fight

At ONE Fight Night 13, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida will look to move on to the next step of his career as he searches for his fifth consecutive win in MMA.

After a rapid rise to the top of the heavyweight division with four consecutive first-round finishes in less than a year, the decorated submission grappler does not intend to pump the brakes on his career.

Though he has aspirations to make it to the very top, Almeida is well aware that the elite contenders in the division massively outweigh him when it comes to experience and time spent training in MMA.

Still, he has been motivated to achieve a well-rounded arsenal. Over the last year, the 17-time BJJ world champion has solely focused on working on rounding out his game and becoming a complete mixed martial artist.

Now, the Brazilian is ready to return to competition and work his way up the final few steps to title contention.

On August 4 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Almedia will face off with ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane, who has four wins under his belt inside the Circle.

The Senegalese wrestling specialist is a physical tank that will pose ‘Buchecha’ a lot of questions if the former elite submission grappler isn’t able to take the fight to the floor.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan on YouTube, Almeida spoke about the mindset that he goes into every fight with since transitioning to MMA.

Whilst he knows that his opponents have more time in the game, by pushing himself to the limit in training camp and showing complete dedication to this stage of his career, he believes that he can match them:

“That's my best way to show respect to my opponent [to train hard]. Training as hard as I can, that's what I'm doing.”

Watch the full interview below:

ONE Fight Night 13 will air live and free via Prime Video for North American viewers.