Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida has been forced to withdraw from his upcoming grappling match opposite Fabricio Werdum at BJJ Bet, citing a knee injury as the reason. Luckily, Buchecha confirmed in the below Instagram video that the knee injury is not serious and does not pose a threat to his career as a whole, although it will prevent him from being able to compete at 100% capacity at BJJ Bet.
Considering that Werdum is a four time IBJJF World Champion, two time ADCC World Champion and the ex-UFC Heavyweight World Champion, he’s certainly not a fight that anyone should take on less than 100% health. It seems that Werdum himself is well aware of this and holds no grudge against Buchecha for being forced out of the match on short notice as he was quick to reply to the Instagram video with the following (translated from Portuguese): “We know that injuries are always with us! Best to and from ours!”
It’s a shame that the BJJ Bet card will have to go ahead without it’s headline match, especially as it’s one that BJJ fans have been wanting for quite some time. The match was set to be one of Buchecha’s final grappling appearances before he made his long-awaited MMA debut, also part of the reason behind the intrigue in a match with a former UFC champion in Werdum. Having already signed his contract with ONE FC, the home of other BJJ stars like Garry Tonon and Tom DeBlass, the MMA world eagerly awaits the opportunity to see how the most decorated IBJJF grappler in history fares when strikes are involved.
At the time of writing, no replacement has been announced for Fabricio Werdum to face at BJJ Bet although we will update you once any announcement is made.
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