The UFC has finalized a heavyweight pairing that carries more backstory than most, announcing that Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida will meet Max Gimenis at UFCFN 274 on April 25 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Buchecha steps in as a late replacement for Allen Frye, who withdrew from the card for undisclosed reasons.
The two first crossed paths in 2019 at the IBJJF World Championship, where Buchecha emerged victorious.
For Buchecha, the road to this point has been anything but straightforward. The 15-time IBJJF world jiu-jitsu champion spent a sizable chunk of his MMA career in ONE Championship before eventually working his way to the UFC, a move he credits largely to his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
“It was hard to get out of my old contract, but he did it and we were able to leave through the front door. So no problems,”
The wait leading up to that debut weighed on him more than he let on publicly.
“I had a lot of bad days. Dark days. I thought about retiring. I thought about quitting MMA. But I would still be under contract. So I had to finish the contract. I thought about stopping the sport a lot of times about quitting.”
His record in the promotion, however, has not yet reflected his ambitions. Buchecha debuted with a loss to Martin Buday, then managed a draw against Kennedy Nzechukwu, leaving him at 0-1-1 inside the Octagon and still searching for that elusive first UFC victory. He carries an overall professional MMA record of 5-2-1 into this bout.
Gimenis holds a 6-2 record in MMA. His UFC debut ended in a loss to Josh Hokit, putting him in a similar position to Buchecha.
