Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is the single-most successful IBJJF world champion in history so he’s no stranger to not finding out his opponent until the last minute, which will come in handy after he’s had a late-notice replacement for his upcoming MMA debut in the ONE FC cage. Considering the fact that his debut has been postponed on a number of occasions for different reasons, fans of Buchecha must be happy to see that it will at least go ahead on the same date even if he’s had a change of opponent.
Originally, Buchecha was scheduled to compete against Thomas Narmo, a 4-0 (1) professional MMA fighter who had only had one fight for ONE FC so far, that ended in a no contest. According to MMAFighting, the reason for Narmo being removed from the bout has not yet been confirmed but he will now be replaced by Anderson “Braddock” Silva. This represents a huge stylistic change for Buchecha as Silva is a phenomenal kickboxer with an extensive history competing for GLORY, finishing as the runner-up in their Heavyweight Contender tournaments on two separate occasions.
Silva does have a 3-1 MMA record but he hasn’t fought under the ruleset since 2018. He never fought at a particularly high level and quickly returned to Kickboxing after experimenting with the sport for a little under two years. Afterward, he returned to Kickboxing and signed for ONE FC where he has gone 2-3 over the five Kickboxing fights he’s had since then.
The full event, including the MMA debut of Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida will be streamed live on September 24th the ONE FC YouTube Channel, click here to watch.