{"id":20549,"date":"2025-07-24T12:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T12:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/20549\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T12:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T12:59:07","slug":"marcus-buchecha-almeida-holds-5-wins-over-one-of-the-most-highly-regarded-grapplers-in-ufc-history-before-mma-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/20549\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida holds 5 wins over one of the most highly regarded grapplers in UFC history before MMA career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new force is set to debut in the UFC\u2019s heavyweight division on July 26 in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

The promotion\u2019s return to the Etihad Arena on Saturday night sees Robert Whittaker face Reinier de Ridder<\/a> in a middleweight main event.<\/p>\n

While de Ridder may have advised other fighters to not sign with ONE Championship<\/a> since departing the promotion, he was one of their top stars during his reign as a two-weight titleholder.<\/p>\n

However, \u2018The Dutch Knight\u2019 isn\u2019t the only former ONE<\/a> star who is one of the sport\u2019s top submission specialists who will be in action this weekend.<\/p>\n

Marcus \u2018Buchecha\u2019 Almeida is considered to be MMA\u2019s best heavyweight grappler<\/a> having already achieved incredible success before changing the direction of his career.<\/p>\n

Marcus \u2018Buchecha\u2019 Almeida avenged his losses to Rodolfo Vieira with a dominant run of wins<\/p>\n

Before Marcus \u2018Buchecha\u2019 Almeida made the decision to pursue a career in MMA, he had already established himself as one of the greatest jiu-jitsu competitors of all time.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian needed a new challenge after already achieving so much in the grappling world as an IBJJF Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n

During his career, Almeida competed multiple times against another highly-credentialed jiu-jitsu specialist who is also on the UFC<\/a> roster.<\/p>\n

Rodolfo Vieira has gone 5-3 inside the Octagon, with \u2018The Black Belt Hunter\u2019 having 17 gold medals to his name in grappling.<\/p>\n

Almeida and Vieira have competed against each other eight times during their grappling careers, where \u2018Buchecha\u2019 got the better of his opponent on five occasions.<\/p>\n

After losing his first three meetings with Vieira via submission, Almeida avenged his losses with a dominant run of points victories.<\/p>\n

Vieira last competed in grappling in 2018, one year after he made his MMA debut before going on to sign with the UFC the following year.<\/p>\n

Buchecha vs Vieira grappling matchesDateResultWorld Championship2014Buchecha via pointsWorld Cup2014Buchecha via pointsWorld Championships2013Buchecha via pointsWorld Cup2013Buchecha via pointsWorld Championships2012Buchecha via pointsWorld Cup2012Vieira via chokeWorld Championship2011Vieira via armbar submissionPan Championship2011Vieira via chokeMarcus \u2018Buchecha\u2019 Almeida faces a ranked opponent on his UFC debut<\/p>\n

After making the switch to MMA, Marcus \u2018Buchecha\u2019 Almeida has produced a pro record of 5-1, with his only loss coming to ONE\u2019s current heavyweight champion, Oumar \u2018Reug Reug\u2019 Kane.<\/p>\n

His opponent for his UFC debut on July 26 will be the #13-ranked Martin Buday, who has gone 6-1 inside the Octagon.<\/p>\n

With an overall record of 15-2, he\u2019s never been submitted in his career, with his only UFC loss coming to Shamil Gaziev in December of 2023.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fairly strong test for Almeida on his UFC debut but as is the case in any matchup he\u2019s in, the fight could end very quickly if it hits the ground.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new force is set to debut in the UFC\u2019s heavyweight division on July 26 in Abu Dhabi.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,17365,638,17366,82,17367],"class_list":["post-20549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-marcus-buchecha-almeida","tag-mma","tag-rodolfo-vieira","tag-sports","tag-ufc-abu-dhabi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}