Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is only a matter of weeks removed from his remarkable MMA debut and he’s already got his second fight lined up in the ONE FC cage. Buchecha will take on undefeated Korean Heavyweight Kang Ji Won for his second professional MMA fight after the pair were originally scheduled to fight in his debut match. That match fell through at the 11th hour just like several that were set up to be Buchecha’s welcoming party to ONE FC, but now Ji Won will get another opportunity to prove himself with a win over the BJJ legend.
In the end, it was Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva who welcomed Buchecha to the octagon and he did not have a good time doing so. Buchecha won the fight in a remarkably convincing manner as it took less than three minutes for him to submit Silva after landing several devastating knees to the head from north-south. After winning the fight, Buchecha was clearly overjoyed by the result:
“It’s like a dream coming true. Starting a new sport from zero, something hard, but my life is about challenges. I did everything in jiu-jitsu so I don’t feel I have anything else to prove, so I decided to start a new career in MMA and that was the first step of feeling great, feeling blessed. I’m really thankful.”
In his next fight, Buchecha will now be facing a much bigger challenge than his first. Ji Won Kang is undefeated in five professional fights and has finished all of his opponents in the first round with strikes. While he will likely have the edge in the striking department, he has never really been tested on the ground and certainly not by anyone who can grapple as well as thirteen-time IBJJF world champion Buchecha.
The full ONE: Winter Warriors event, including Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida taking on his second professional MMA fight, will be streamed live on December 3rd the ONE FC YouTube Channel, click here to watch.
