"I can't wait for April, let's do it" - Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida teases return to the Circle on Instagram

The heavyweight division’s top Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida, will return to the ONE Circle at the start of Q2 in 2022.

He broke the news on his official Instagram account yesterday.

“Soon, I’ll be back in the Cage! I can’t wait for April, let’s do it!"

There has been no confirmation on who ‘Buchecha’ will face next. However, the promotion’s heavyweight division is stacked with an enormous amount of talent still waiting for some game time in 2022.

Among the stars who could collide with the multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion are former division king Brandon Vera, Senegalese star Oumar Kane and Iranian wrestling expert Amir Aliakbari.

‘Buchecha’ has previously expressed his desire to compete a couple more times before potentially being put in the world title mix. A battle with either Anatoly Malykhin or Kirill Grishenko seems unlikely, as the pair are set to collide for the interim heavyweight title in the main event of ONE: Bad Blood this Friday, February 11.

His interest in getting more time in the Circle before a title shot also puts a clash with ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar out of the question.

Regardless of who the 32-year-old ends up facing, fans can at least be secure in the knowledge that he'll appear in one of the two spectacles the Singapore-based promotion has slated for April.

Per ONE's official site – onefc.com – the events are set for the 8th and the 22nd, respectively.

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Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida's unstoppable run in ONE so far

‘Buchecha’s unmatched skills on the canvas have been the highlight of his two performances in the world’s largest martial arts organization thus far. In his debut at ONE: Revolution last September, the ground-game specialist barely broke a sweat en route to a submission win over compatriot Anderson Silva.

He needed only one takedown and from there it was game over for Silva. Almeida's slick movements prevented the striker from finding an escape route. The Sao Paulo native closed out his first-ever professional MMA contest with a north-south choke at 2:55 of the opening stanza.

In December, the heavyweight up-and-comer returned and doubled his winning streak via rear-naked choke against ‘Mighty Warrior’ Kang Ji Won. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert controlled the contest with his grappling and outclassed the Korean knockout artist on the ground.

Fans are eager to see him blend his elusive ground game with other aspects of his MMA game in his return and perhaps they'll get their wish in April.