The only way Odie Delaney would fight his “Brother in Christ” Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida

Odie Delaney seems like an all-around good guy outside the Circle but an absolute force in it. His call-out of good friend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is both wholesome and terrifying as it speaks volumes about his character and fighting skills.

Before he fights Almeida, though, Delaney will first take care of his assignment against Mehdi Barghi at ONE 158: Tawanchai vs. Larsen on June 3, Friday. It will be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The mental health advocate recently gave an interview with ONE Championship. He stated that the only time he will fight ‘Buchecha’ is when the ONE heavyweight world title is on the line.

He pointed out that there’s no point for them to meet inside the Circle when there’s no world title at stake.

Odie Delaney said:

“There's one guy that I hope I find in the finals. Because, one he's my friend, we're brothers in Christ, great guy and that’s ‘Buchecha’. I want 'Buchecha' for the belt, I don't want to fight him before the belt, because that's going to be a grueling, horrible war that's going to be very bloody and very long. And that's going to be epic, the whole world needs to be watching [type of] fight.”

He added:

“So I would like that to be either for a contender fight or maybe the championship. And I know we're both going to get there. It's just a matter of time. We're going to keep on racking up wins. Everybody else is fair game, man. Yeah, so let's see.”

Delaney and ‘Buchecha’ are both undefeated in their respective Mixed Martial Arts careers. The American wrestler is 3-0 and his last win was a first-round submission against Thomas Narmo on his ONE Championship debut in February 2022.

Almeida, meanwhile, is 2-0 with both of his fights happening in ONE Championship. His debut saw him submit Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva in the first round in September 2021. He then followed it up with another first-round submission against Kang Ji Won in December.

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Odie Delaney wants to improve more as a fighter

Odie Delaney may be undefeated in his career, but he’s not someone to look at himself too highly.

The 32-year-old from the American Top Team said he’s in no rush to get to the title picture. He would rather get some more victories to help him improve as a fighter.

Odie Delaney said:

“I would like to keep developing my skills though. I'm not going to come out and say that I believe that I can just walk through this division, because that's not true. There are a lot of really tough guys that are very dangerous in this division. And there are a lot of skills that I still want to hone and perfect."

He added:

“So I'm not rushing. I'm taking my time. I'm going to be intelligent about who I fight when I fight. I think that fighters really do need to take their career into their own hands as much as they can and communicate with the promotion that they're working with, about their plans. And that's been going very well.”