‘Buchecha’ says he’s 'in no rush' for a title shot if he beats Reug Reug

Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has his eyes set on a shot at the ONE heavyweight mixed martial arts world title but is in no rush for it.

Currently undefeated in four fights to date since making his promotional debut in September 2021, the American Top Team and Evolve MMA representative has effectively positioned himself as a solid contender for the top prize in the heavyweight division.

Despite that, ‘Buchecha,’ a 17-time BJJ world champion prior to joining ONE, wants to take it one step at a time as far as his title goals are concerned, preferring to sharpen his MMA skills some more, to be ready when the opportunity for a title shot comes.

The 32-year BJJ black belt recently shared with the South China Morning Post that he will return to action on August 5 in Thailand against fellow heavyweight contender Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane of Senegal.

However, ONE Championship has yet to confirm the booking.

In the same SCMP interview, ‘Buchecha’ said in the next months he will focus on the ‘Reug Reug’ fight and then weigh his options moving forward.

He said:

“I think about him, Reug Reug. Then after that, we’re going to see about the next step. Like I said, in the business, I just started MMA, so I’m in no rush. I’ll take my time slowly.”

Watch the interview below:

‘Buchecha’ was a first-round submission winner in his last outing back in August at ONE on Prime Video 1.

He forced Belarusian Kirill Grishenko to tap out just 64 seconds into their contest. It was another short night of work for the Sao Paulo, Brazil-born fighter who has won all of his fights in ONE so far by finishes inside the opening round.

‘Reug Reug,’ meanwhile, is currently on an upswing, winning his last two fights and is out for more.