In the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the name “Buchecha” looms large. Marcus Almeida has been one of the dominant names in BJJ over the past decade – and all along, he’s made noises about making the jump to mixed martial arts.
Now, he’s finally putting his money where his mouth is. According to his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, Almeida has signed a multi-year contract with ONE Fighting Championship, and will make his debut as a heavyweight either at the end of this year or the beginning of 2021.
Almeida has a grappling pedigree few can match: since 2012 he’s won 13 world Brazilian jiu-jitsu titles and two super heavyweight golds at the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission grappling championships. Now, he’ll try to improve upon to often-spotty track record of BJJ superstars transitioning to MMA.
BJJ has pretty much always been one of the foundation stones of mixed martial arts: the UFC was born partially out of the Gracie family’s desire to exhibit the superiority of their style of grappling. But while BJJ alone was enough for Royce Gracie to dominate the early years of the UFC, it simply doesn’t get the job done anymore.
Look no further than Almeida’s predecessor as one of the kings of heavyweight grappling: fellow Brazilian Vinny Magalhaes, who started his MMA career in 2006. His jiu-jitsu resume scored him a UFC contract two years later, but his wizardry on the mat didn’t translate to wins. He went just 1-4 in the UFC, and currently holds a rather unimpressive pro record of 19-12.
Magalhaes is an interesting case study of what can ail high-level BJJ players who jump to MMA. Magalhaes struggled with his standup, while his wrestling left a lot to be desired: while BJJ can teach you how to submit a guy once you get to the ground, it doesn’t necessarily teach you how to actually get a guy there who doesn’t want to be there.
Fellow elite submission grapplers such as Rolles Gracie Jr., Andre Galvao and Dean Lister have struggled with similar issues over the years. The stand-up issue might be a sticking point for Buchecha – at 30 years old, it might be a little late for him to develop into a guy who can stand and trade with the best, especially at heavyweight, where fighters can tend to be a little sloppier but with a whole lot more power.
But there are some reasons to believe that Almeida can make an impact. One of his greatest grappling rivals, now-UFC middleweight Rodolfo Vieira, has so far gone undefeated in his MMA career, and the two of them share some similar traits: excellent athleticism and a dynamic, attacking style.
Buchecha’s explosiveness has given him a great advantage in BJJ, a sport traditionally designed for smaller and less athletic competitors: Helio Gracie originally adapted BJJ from judo in order to give those with less natural physical prowess the ability to compete.
That could be a great equalizer for Almeida, even if he doesn’t end up developing into anything more than a passable striker. Of the elite BJJ stars who have made transitions to MMA, guys of his mold have generally been the most successful: athletic, aggressive types such as Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Gilbert Burns and Fabricio Werdum.
The heavyweight Werdum may be an instructive example for Almeida’s potential. Although Werdum started earlier than Almeida – he was two weeks shy of his 25th birthday when he made his pro MMA debut – he didn’t emerge as a true top contender until his mid-30s, when he had shored up his striking and figured out ways to get top heavyweights to the ground outside of comically butt-scooting at his opponent and begging them to get in his guard.
At the very least, we know that Buchecha will be bringing in one elite skill to his new sport. And ONE FC could be a perfect place for him to start, giving him a platform and opportunities to shine in a less-talent rich environment. ONE has seemingly had its MMA product somewhat de-emphasized in recent years as it focuses on promoting kickboxing, Muay Thai and boxing, especially as it regards its higher MMA weight classes, as it builds its promotion around lighter-weight UFC imports like former champs Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez.
Case in point: the current ONE heavyweight champion is UFC veteran Brandon Vera (holy shit, remember that guy?), who’s defended his belt twice in the almost five years since he won it. If you’re a talented heavyweight on the way up, beating a guy like Vera a few fights into your career could be a nice name on your resume.
We’ll see if Buchecha can get that far.
The Big Fight 