In the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the bond between Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida and the late Leandro Lo was extraordinary. ‘Buchecha boasts an impressive 17-time BJJ world champion record, while Lo achieved the remarkable feat of winning eight world titles across five different weight classes.
These two Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legends were not only close friends but also fierce competitors who gave their all every time they grappled on the mats.
Tragically, Lo’s life was cut short last year when he was involved in a spat with an off duty military police officer in São Paulo that resulted in a fatal shooting. The loss of his best friend deeply affected ‘Buchecha,’ who has openly paid tribute to Lo’s legendary career.
In a recent social media post by Almeida, he once again shared his thoughts about his cherished friend. The post included a clip from a recent documentary on Almeida, where he discussed Lo’s selfless act during the 2018 Worlds Absolutes.
“‘Living in the present! I Keep this with me, I don’t like saving anything in this life. All I have is now.’ – Leandro Lo,” read the caption on Almeida’s post.
‘Buchecha’ went on to reflect:
“This was just one of the many life lessons I learned from Leandro who was like a brother to me. I learned a lot on the mat with him in terms of techniques and strategies but I learned a lot more off the mats with him, valuable life lessons that will stay with me forever!”
He further added:
“Many people only saw what happened at the 2018 Worlds when we closed out the Absolute division, but no one saw what he had done in 2016 when he gave up on his dream and let me go straight to the final of the open weight that year.”
‘Buchecha’ concluded the heartfelt caption with:
“Leandro was and will always be one of the greatest in the history of the sport for everything he did.”
