‘Buchecha’ wonders how it could have been if he started MMA at 20

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida believes things would have been much different had he begun his mixed martial arts career much earlier.

The 33-year-old heavyweight prospect spent much of his competitive career establishing himself as one of the most decorated grapplers in the history of submission grappling. ‘Buchecha’ is a 17-time BJJ world champion and has used those skills inside the circle en route to a 4-0 start in his MMA career.

Despite the stellar start, ‘Buchecha’ wonders how things could have gone had he started his MMA career in his 20s rather than waiting until his 30s.

“I know I had more time behind than ahead of me in my professional career,” Almeida said on the Money Moicano podcast. “If I start MMA when I was 20 years old, it would've been different. But I think if I had, it would've been much different.”

On August 4, Marcus Almeida will step inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand for a long-awaited heavyweight clash with Senegalese knockout artist Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane. The two men have been scheduled to scrap on two separate occasions, but both fell through. Fortunately, fans won’t have to wait much longer to see the two fast-rising heavyweight contenders square off inside the circle.

‘Reug Reug’ goes into the contest with an impressive 5-1 record with knockouts against Alain Ngalani, Patrick Schmid, and Batradz Gazzaev. His last appearance came at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December where he scored a unanimous decision win over Jasur Mirzamukhamedov.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 13 live and for free in U.S. primetime on August 4.