Bibiano Fernandes believes that the sky's the limit for Buchecha in MMA

Bibiano Fernandes has been a fixture of Brazilian martial arts for almost two decades now. His first love has always been jiu-jitsu, an art that Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has excelled in over the past decade.

Now that Buchecha is starting his transition to MMA, Fernandes is definitely taking notice, and offered some praise for his compatriot’s potential in the sport:

“Undoubtedly, Buchecha can go very far in MMA. Of course. it all depends on his ability to adapt to MMA and the situations he will have to go through if he wants to be a world champion one day. But surely, Buchecha has everything to get there. It will just depend on him.”

Fernandes is a decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, having won multiple national, pan-American, and world titles before transitioning to MMA. However, his first two matches were losses.

Meanwhile, Buchecha has dominated the Brazilian jiu-jitsu scene in recent years, winning multiple world championships and being inducted into the IBJJF Hall of Fame. In his first two bouts in MMA, he dominated his opponents with first round finishes.

Buchecha’s successful transition so far is a testament not only to his dedication to learning and improving in the sport, but also to the constant evolution of Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a sport. Bibiano Fernandes offered his thoughts on how the sport has grown today:

“Regarding the new techniques, I think it has evolved a lot. It has the berimbolo and many variations of the de la Riva guard. Today, jiu-jitsu is much more professional than in my time. There are a lot of new talents emerging. It's really cool to follow jiu-jitsu these days.”

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Bibiano Fernandes vs. John Lineker at ONE: Bad Blood is off

The much-anticipated culmination of Bibiano Fernandes and John Lineker’s back-and-forth will again have to wait. Lineker has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to compete at tomorrow’s ONE: Bad Blood card.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Fernandes expressed his disappointment in the bout getting canceled for a second time:

“I have to be respectful of John Lineker. I hope he has a good, quick recovery. I don’t know. [Expletive]. I’m not happy, to come to this point, and now I can’t fight. That’s no good. It’s not in my control,” he added. “I wish I could [do] something.”

With an extremely short time to find a replacement, it was reported that the promotion is looking to rebook the fight in two weeks at ONE: Full Circle.

While Fernandes is eager to fight, he will fly back home first instead of staying in the Lion City until the next event:

“I cannot stay [in Singapore],” he said. “I have kids, family. I’ll come back later. I’ll wait for ONE Championship, see what they say.”