"Would have been my MMA debut" - ONE Championship's Marcus Almeida on the initial Oumar Kane cancellation and fighting him a year later

13-time Brazilian Jiujitsu World Champion and current ONE Championship heavyweight fighter Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida is set to face Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane at ONE: Eersel vs. Sadikovic. It will be the third professional MMA fight for Buchecha and fifth for Senegalese wrestling sensation 'Reug Reug'.

The 32-year old grappling phenom has been dominant in his ONE Championship campaign so far, dominating and submitting Anderson 'Braddock' Silva and Kang Ji Won inside 5 minutes. With his next challenge in 'Reug Reug', Buchecha will be facing a different kind of beast. The Senegalese powerhouse is an icon of his country's martial art, “lutte avec frappe”, more known as Senegalese wrestling.

Speaking to South China Morning Post, the Jiujitsu world champ talked about what could have been his first MMA experience against a hulk-of-a-man in 'Reug Reug':

"It was supposed to happen last year. It would [have been] my MMA debut but I think he got hurt. I don't know exactly what happened but anyway, one year later, we're fighting."

The submission grappling legend also shed light on the stylistic difference between 'Reug Reug' and his past two opponents:

"In the meantime, I fought two other guys. Really experienced guys too, so I got more experience. It's gonna be interesting because the other two guys that I fought were strikers. So [this] is gonna be the first time I'm fighting a grappler."

Senegalese wrestling is a folk-style type of wrestling practiced as a national sport in Senegal and parts of Gambia. It heavily resembles clinch-heavy grappling arts like Greco-Roman wrestling. The main difference, however, is that it allows strikes.

Being an icon and former champion of the sport, 'Reug Reug' brought his combination of power wrestling and heavy hands to finish all his wins via knockout. Buchecha will definitely have to utilize all facets of his MMA game, particularly his takedowns and top pressure, to get the job done come April 22nd.

Watch the full interview here:

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"I'm not the kind of guy that's going to be afraid to be on my back" - ONE Championship heavyweight Marcus Almeida on dealing with the wrestling of Oumar Kane

When asked on how he would deal with such a rare kind of wrestling in an MMA fight, Almeida was all confidence in his answer:

"I think, pretty much, we know what he wants, you know. The idea of Senegalese wrestling is to take your opponent down, but you're allowed to bring some striking [inaudible]. So, I think, it's pretty much what he is going to try to do but I'm not the kind of guy that's going to be afraid to be on my back on the mat. So it's gonna be interesting what's the strategy he's gonna try to use. That's it. It's gonna be fun."

To say that Buchecha is a fighter who can fight off of his back is like saying water is wet. The Brazilian heavyweight has made a living out of fighting with his back on the mat.

Training with legendary MMA wrestlers like Daniel 'DC' Cormier at American Kickboxing Academy, we're sure Buchecha has the tools to deal with the top game of 'Reug Reug'. The question is, will he be able to use them successfully? Tune in on April 22nd at ONE Championship: Eersel vs. Sadikovic to find out.