‘Buchecha’ wants to win the ONE heavyweight world title in 2023

17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is looking to add an MMA world title to his collection in 2023.

Kicking off his professional mixed martial arts career with four first-round finishes in less than a year, Almeida is ready to take the next step in his combat sports career by challenging for the ONE heavyweight world title.

In an interview with the promotion, ‘Buchecha’ revealed his title aspirations for the new year:

“All my focus is on MMA, and 2023 will be no different. I’m improving every day, and I want to get more victories. My ultimate goal is to become ONE heavyweight world champion, so I’m working really hard on that. I hope to achieve this goal in 2023.”

Of course, Almeida recognizes that he may need to score a couple more big wins before earning the opportunity to compete for ONE gold.

“If I manage to maintain this good form and conquer some more good victories, then I think I will be worthy of challenging for the title.”

The Brazilian's last appearance at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August was perhaps his most impressive. 'Buchecha' submitted one-time heavyweight title challenger Kirill Grishenko via heel hook in 64 seconds.

---

Anatoly Malykhin believes he is on a collision course with ‘Buchecha’ in 2023

Fresh off his epic first-round knockout of ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder at ONE on Prime Video 5, newly crowned two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin believes it’s only a matter of time before he steps inside the circle with BJJ specialist Marcus Almeida.

To prepare for that bout, Malykhin knows that he will need to upgrade his grappling game. Speaking at the post-fight press conference following his knockout of de Ridder, the Russian juggernaut said:

“I like 'Buchecha', he's a good guy, maybe I’ll fight 'Buchecha' next year. I really like him as a person so I wouldn't want to fight him honestly. But if he keeps calling me out, of course, I will accept the fight but he and de Ridder, I cannot compare them because he's so much better than Reinier in jiu-jitsu. So if I happen to fight him, I will have to update my skills in jiu-jitsu.”

Before Malykhin meets Marcus Almeida inside the circle, he will likely first need to deal with reigning heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar.

The two have been linked to a title unification bout for the last several months. With with Bhullar recently revealing that he's cleared to return, an early 2023 bout between the two is heavily rumored.