Marcus Almeida believes he has proven himself as a dangerous MMA fighter.
A high-level BJJ black belt with multiple tournament championships to his credit, “Buchecha” took on the challenge of becoming an MMA competitor last year. So far, so good for Almeida (4-0), who picked up his fourth-straight victory in the first round by stopping former title challenger Kirill Grishenko.
The fight took place on the main card of ONE on Prime Video 1 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore on Friday.
Almeida gave a glimpse of his ever-evolving striking game when he knocked Grishenko off his feet with a hard leg kick to start the fight. The strike immediately set the tone of the bout. Before Grishenko (5-1) could get into a rhythm, Almeida shot in for a takedown and seamlessly transitioned into a heel hook that forced a quick tap just 64 seconds into the fight.
“I fought the toughest guys of the division already,” Almeida said during his post-fight interview. “I got the job done, so now I think people start to respect me as a MMA fighter, not just a grappler. They saw that I can take a punch, I can punch back, I can kick. So, I think that’s all about to be a MMA fighter and I’m proving that. … I’m here for a long time. I’m here to stay.”
Almeida, 32, made his MMA debut against Anderson Silva (no, not that one) in September 2021, winning by submission in the opening round. In December, he followed it up by handing Ji Won Kang his first pro loss. This year he has picked up two victories, pounding out Simon Carson for a mid-first-round stoppage at ONE Championship 158, and the heel hook finish of Grishenko.
Check out the full post-fight interview with “Buchecha” in the video above.
