"I’d be down to be in the card" - 'Buchecha' wants to be part of ONE 161

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida wants a quick turnaround between his fights, and he’s already eyeing a date for his return.

Almeida is fresh off a dominant knockout win over Simon Carson at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen. He’s now looking to join the upcoming ONE 161: Moraes vs. Johnson II fight card, which will happen on August 26.

In his post-fight interview, uploaded by the South China Morning Post, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend revealed his hopes for getting back to the ONE circle immediately and joining his close friend Adriano Moraes on the card. ‘Buchecha’ said:

“I saw Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes coming up. August 26? If I'm not wrong so I'll be down to be in the card. 100%. A couple of weeks to go, that's it. I hope I can get back to the cage as soon as possible, so this date would be perfect for me.”

Almeida, a 17-time BJJ world champion, is 3-0 in his young mixed martial arts career, with all three of his wins coming via stoppage. He had two first-round submission wins over Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva and Kang Ji Won in late 2021.

His win over Carson last Friday was his first knockout win and saw him utilize a masterful ground-and-pound game to take the stoppage victory 2:24 into the first round. Speaking about his evolution, he added:

“I'm so happy, so stoked that I got one more win, and I’m 3-0 right now. A lot of respect for Simon Carson, he gave me his word, he signed the contract, and he showed up on the day so. It was hard for me to find an opponent but finally, we found one and I hope to get back as soon as possible. So I want to keep on track and I want to keep the momentum going.”

ONE 161 will see the rematch between Moraes, the ONE flyweight world champion, and Demetrious Johnson following their explosive first match in April 2021. Moraes took the win in their first meeting with a second-round knockout.

Catch the whole interview below:

---

‘Buchecha’ feels more comfortable as his MMA career goes on

Almeida has already proven that he can the other facets of MMA, and he admitted that he’s getting more comfortable inside the circle as his career progresses.

With three finishes under his name, ‘Buchecha’ said he’s getting a better grasp of the sport and is also becoming more confident when he approaches his fights.

“What I can say is I'm feeling really confident in the cage. So I'm learning the game, and every fighter becomes more comfortable. I'm not rushing anything. I'm taking my time to do everything. So of course, I could get the takedown early in the round, but I was ready to do 15 minutes of striking if I need to,” said the Brazilian heavyweight.

'Buchecha' added:

“I just fell in love with MMA, just the way that I fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu, like 17 years ago, actually, like 20 years ago."

We'll likely find out whether Almeida's wish to join the ONE 161 lineup will be granted in the coming weeks.