Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida says he’s been "feeling more comfortable" adapting his jiu-jitsu for MMA

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida stepped foot into MMA as one of the sport's true specialists.

As a 17-time BJJ world champion, there aren’t many people in the world who can compete with the Brazilian on the mats. After a lengthy career, during which he won it all in submission grappling, Almeida decided to push himself in a new way.

Since signing with ONE Championship and making his pro MMA debut in September 2021, ‘Buchecha’ has produced four wins in a row, all of which have come via first-round finishes.

Whilst there will still be questions surrounding the other aspects of his overall skill set in MMA, it’s been clear that Almeida has been able to adapt his grappling game to great success.

In an interview with SCMP MMA, he spoke about the developments he had made in evolving his submission grappling game to work in an MMA ruleset:

“When I put my back on the mat a lot of people thought it was a mistake, but I managed to get a submission from there. It shows that my skills are good and can be applied in MMA. It’s been working a lot. I adapt my jiu-jitsu a lot for MMA. It’s been good, I’m feeling more comfortable and the last fight was proof of that.”

Watch the full interview below:

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Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida really wants to fight on ONE Championship’s first U.S. card

After an electric start to his career in MMA, which has seen him pick up four wins in under a year, we haven’t seen Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida since August.

Having lived in the United States for over a decade, the BJJ specialist is hoping to return to competition when ONE Championship makes its debut on U.S. soil in May.

ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video will make history for ONE Championship and as a result, the promotion is bringing a stacked card to the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

With a perfect run so far since transitioning into a career in MMA, ‘Buchecha’ is targeting a fifth professional win on May 5. He said in the same interview:

"100 percent. I have lived in America for 13 years. I got my citizenship, so I’m half Brazilian-American now. It’s like that. So for me to fight on the U.S. card would be awesome because I have a lot of fans in the United States [and] because I’ve been fighting there for so long in my jiu-jitsu career. I have barely fought in Brazil since I moved to America."

The 17-time BJJ champion added:

"It’s been like two or three times in 13 years, that’s how much. All the other fights have been in the U.S. For MMA, all my MMA fights have been in Singapore. I have a lot of fans in America so it would be great to fight where I live right now. For sure, that would be great. That would be a perfect world."

ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video will be live and free for North American viewers with an active Prime subscription. It will be headlined by the trilogy fight between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.