Marcus Almeida Buchecha is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu record holder having won the World title 13 times. He’s since transitioned to mixed martial artist.
He is among the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors of all time, having won numerous competitions in the black belt division. Buchecha has an MMA record consisting of 4 wins and no losses. He is known for his assertive style, powerful takedowns, and dominant grappling skills.
Recently he made interesting comments about ONE FC. The comments are especially interesting considering that BJJ is still a sport where it can be very hard to make ends meet. Vagner Rocha went so far as to call it a ‘baby sport’ and to detail that even winning ADCC isn’t enough to sustain you for a long period of time.
“I mean, when I started jiu-jitsu, there wasn’t even any of these opportunities. It’s very cool. It’s evolved a lot. But even ADCC, the biggest tournament in the world, the guy who wins, the weight class, makes $10,000. How’s that change in your life?”
ONE FC is one of the major players on the scene, offering a chance to vie for a $50,000 bonus during one of their cards. While ONE FC is mainly known for Muay Thai in MMA gloves and MMA they’ve been trying to break onto the BJJ scene since 2017 and they’ve been especially keen lately with the UFC acquiring rights to broadcast a number of ADCC events.
Buchecha told SCMP:
“I think ONE are doing a really amazing job,”
“ONE Championship is the place to be. It’s making grappling great again.”
“It’s good to see how they’re changing people’s lives. To be in the organization, to watch all that, to me it’s amazing. I think it’s a change of the game, the next step for grappling.”
ONE FC booked a match between ADCC medalist Bia Basilio and Tammi Musameci for 24th of March. The event will be held in Singapore.
As for Buchecha, he’s last competed against Kirill Grishenko in August of 2022. It’s unknown when the promotion intends to book him again. He’s been training out of American Top Team in Florida. Another BJJ champion, Felipe Pena, is set to join him there when he moves on to the next stage of his career and transitions into MMA.
There are a lot of criticism that can be directed toward ONE FC but it’s undeniable that they’re currently a part of a major push to turn BJJ into a mainstream sport. Not to mention that $50,000 can be lifechanging money for many of these competitors who are struggling to make ends meet.
