Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida had his debut spoiled by Martin Buday at UFC on ABC 9 on July 26th, 2025, as he dropped a decision in the first fight of the night. It was a huge moment for the BJJ world, as Buchecha is one of the biggest stars of the sport and this was his arrival in the biggest MMA promotion in the world. There was a lot of hype around him when his UFC debut was announced, and not just because he’s one of the best BJJ competitors in the world. He was also coming in to the fight with Buday with a 5-1 professional record at ONE Championship that included 5 first-round finishes.
The sole loss of Buchecha’s career until now came up against Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane when he wasn’t able to get the fight to the ground on his terms, and that was a sign of things to come. Buchecha spent almost the entire first round struggling to take Buday down, repeatedly getting his shots stuffed and getting beaten on the feet after them. Buchecha did manage to take Buday down in the second round and was able to show some of his grappling advantage then, but Buday did enough to stay competitive and eventually managed go work his way back on top.
Buday finished the round with some shots from inside Buchecha’s guard and although Buchecha won the round, he’d expended a lot of energy to do so. Buday went back to shutting down the takedowns and beating Buchecha on the feet in the final round, eventually taking up top position on the ground to land strikes again. Buchecha managed to take his back but Buday escaped once again, punishing him with more ground and pound in order to seal his win in the final round. It was a convincing victory from Buday and Buchecha now has a decision to make; either he develops his striking in order to have more options in MMA or he returns to BJJ for some high-profile superfights instead.
UFC On ABC 9 Full Results
Reinier de Ridder defeats Robert Whittaker via Decision – Split
Petr Yan defeats Marcus McGhee via Decision – Unanimous
Sharabutdin Magomedov defeats Marc-Andre Barriault via Decision – Unanimous
Asu Almabayev defeats Jose Ochoa via Decision – Unanimous
Bogdan Guskov defeats Nikita Krylov via Knockout – Punches
Preliminary Card
Bryce Mitchell defeats Said Nurmagomedov via Decision – Unanimous
Muslim Salikhov defeats Carlos Leal via Knockout – Punch
Davey Grant defeats Da’Mon Blackshear via Decision – Unanimous
Tabatha Ricci defeats Amanda Ribas via TKO – Elbow & Punches
Billy Elekana defeats Ibo Aslan via Decision – Unanimous
Steven Nguyen defeats Mohammad Yahya via TKO – Doctor Stoppage
Martin Buday defeats Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida via Decision – Unanimous
The full UFC On ABC 9 event replay, including Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida losing a decision to Martin Buday in his debut, is available to watch on UFC Fight Pass.
