LOOK: Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida shares a throwback photo of him rolling with Felipe Pena

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) icon and ONE heavyweight steamroller Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida is an icon in the competitive jiu-jitsu world. Having won the world championship a record 17 times, 'Buchecha' is considered a legend amongst legends.

He's fought and beaten some of the most formidable grapplers in history, including Nicholas Meregali, Mahamed Aly, Keenan Cornelius, Rodolfo Vieira, and his own best friend, the late great Leandro Lo.

Another notable grappler that 'Buchecha' has faced in the past is multi-time IBJJF Gi and No-Gi world champion, and ADCC Absolutes gold medalist Felipe Pena. Almeida and Pena square off in the 2019 IBJJF world championship where 'Buchecha' barely scraped by with a win.

The 17-time world champion posted about the same on his Instagram to congratulate Pena on his win against Nicky Rodriguez:

"Game of minds! Great fight against my brother @felipepenabjj at Worlds 19! Good fight Tonight brother, because Professionals don’t need luck!"

Almeida and Pena's bout in the quarterfinals of the Open-weight division of the 2019 IBJJF world championships was a nail-biting technical battle of two athletes at the top of their game. The bout was so close that by the end of the match, both men had four points and one penalty each - it was dead even. The winner was decided by the referee, who awarded the victory to 'Buchecha'.

Watch their match here:

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Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida teases his return in 2023

After leaving the sport of jiu-jitsu to become an MMA fighter in 2021, Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida has racked up impressive 4-0 record with a 100% finish rate. He did so in just one year while fighting under the ONE Championship banner.

Needless to say, everyone's holding their breath when the 17-time BJJ world champion returns to the circle. In a recent Instagram video posted by Almeida, we saw a highlight reel of the carnage he's brought inside the cage, accompanied by a few inspirational words:

"The only thing that falls from the sky is rain, the rest is fight! Let's go. There's already more. Looking forward to this year."

The post continues:

“Haste is the enemy of victory. There is no room for the weak and the coward dies without trying! ""

The state of the ONE heavyweight division is hanging in the balance at the moment. A world title unification bout between ONE heavyweight king Arjan Bhullar and interim world champion Anatoly Malykhin is expected to headline ONE Fight Night 8. Whoever wins that bout, expect Almeida to be waiting in line for his shot at gold.

While he may be just 4-0 at the moment, how Almeida blasted through his opponents merits him to be in world title conversations at least. Add that to the fact that he's a 17-time BJJ world champion, then it's going to be hard to deny Almeida's shot at the throne. We'll just have to wait and see.