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Marcus Almeida Nearing The Top Of ONE's Heavyweight Division
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Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida. (Courtesy of ONE Championship)
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NE Championship star Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida left nothing to chance when he took on Belarusian powerhouse Kirill Grishenko at ONE Fight Night 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II this past Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“Buchecha” finished the former ONE World Title challenger via a heel hook submission just 64 seconds into their main card battle, setting a personal record for the Brazilian star.
Almeida has made quite a name for himself as a mixed martial artist since debuting in the Circle last year. With his win over Grishenko, he has improved his record to a perfect 4-0 and added a fourth first-round knockout to his tally.
The American Top Team and Evolve MMA athlete has been adamant about moving slowly through the division and is in no rush to take his shot at gold.
That said, speaking after his latest win, the 32-year-old mentioned that he was looking forward to fighting the divisional king at some stage.
“[Grishenko] fought for the title, but he didn’t win, right? So of course, the champion is the champion because he got the job done. [They are] really tough guys, Anatoly Malykhin and Arjan Bhullar,” Almeida said.
“I can’t wait for them to fight, and soon I’m going to have my chance to fight one of them. My time will come, eventually.”
Read also: ONE Fight Night 1: Five Fighters Earn Combined US$250,000 In Performance Bonuses
It’s unclear who will be the ONE Heavyweight World Champion when the time comes for “Buchecha” to step up, as the World Title and interim belts must first be unified.
But the ever-humble star is keeping a cool head for now, and he intends to maintain a clear mind heading into his next match, whether it’s for the ONE World Championship or not.
“It will be one more fight. I’m not going to take it like a title fight. It will be one more challenge for me, and that’s it. One more step. I’m not going to think it’s the biggest challenge of my career, because it won’t be,” Almeida said.
“My toughest fight is always the next one, that’s it. I think to get the belt, of course it’s really hard. But I think the hardest thing is to [stay] at the top in any sport, not just MMA.”
Download the ONE Super App to catch all the action at ONE 161: Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai on Thursday, Sept. 29, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
This article was published in collaboration with ONE Championship.
