Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida was coming into his fight with Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane at ONE Fight Night 13 on August 4th, 2023 with a lot of momentum, but unfortunately he hit a speedbump in his MMA career as he was handed his first professional loss. He had been dominant in all of his ONE Championship performances so far, but this fight against Reug Reug is one that fans had been dying to see for quite some time. They met in the middle and both men looked as though they wanted to finish the fight early as they came out strong right from the start.
The story of the fight became clear pretty early on, as Buchecha was unsuccessful in the majority of his takedown attempts and Reug Reug was getting the better of the striking exchanges. One of the most surprising factors was how well Reug Reug actually coped on the ground though as he was able to shut down a butterfly sweep with brilliant balance and escape a leg attack in the first round. Every failed takedown was met with punishing ground and pound and although Reug Reug couldn’t actually find the finish, Buchecha was clearly in danger as the round ended.
Both Buchecha and Reug Reug were visibly tired as the second round started at ONE Fight Night 13, and their output slowed considerably. Although the power was still there for Reug Reug, the slower pace allowed Buchecha to get his first clean takedown of the fight. His positional control from the top was fantastic and he was landing heavy shots before transitioning to an armbar when Reug Reug tried to escape. Reug Reug was able to defend and eventually got back to standing, but another takedown attempt from Buchecha didn’t end so well and he spent the rest of the round on bottom in closed guard.
The third was even slower again, with little action for the first minute until Buchecha shot in again. He used it to transition to Reug Reug’s back beautifully and managed to get both hooks in, landing a few shots before Reug Reug escaped to standing. Another takedown ended with Buchecha in bottom half-guard and Reug Reug slowly improved position by landing a steady stream of strikes. He controlled for a while in turtle before they were stood up due to Reug Reug grabbing the gloves, and Buchecha landed one more takedown as the the final minute approached. Reug Reug was grabbing the shorts to defend it and he was penalized with a yellow card, but the fight ended shortly after.
Reug Reug made liberal use of illegal grips throughout the fight and Buchecha had a clear period of success in the second round, but it wasn’t enough for him to earn the win at ONE Fight Night 13. Reug Reug was awarded the unanimous decision victory and Buchecha was handed the first loss of his professional MMA career. Other than Buchecha’s loss, BJJ stars were generally successful at the event. Tye Ruotolo dominated in his grappling match earlier in the night and Mikey Musumeci successfully defended the flyweight title with a beautiful submission finish in the co-main event.
ONE Fight Night 13 Full Results
Chingiz Allazov defeats Marat Grigorian via Decision – Unanimous (Round 5, 3:00)
Allazov retains the ONE Championship Featherweight Kickboxing World Championship
Mikey Musumeci defeats Jarred Brooks via Submission – Triangle Armbar (Round 1, 7:30)
Musumeci retains the ONE Championship Flyweight Submission Grappling World Championship
Tawanchai PK Saenchai defeats Davit Kiria via TKO – Arm Injury (Round 3, 0:29)
John Lineker defeats Kim Jae-Woong via TKO – Punches (Round 3, 4:56)
Supergirl Jaroonsak defeats Lara Fernandez via Decision – Unanimous (Round 3, 3:00)
Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane defeats Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida via Decision – Unanimous (Round 3, 5:00)
Elias Mahmoudi defeats Edgar Tabares via TKO – Knees (Round 1, 1:38)
Tye Ruotolo defeats Dagi Arslanaliev via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 1, 2:39)
Rungrawee Sitsongpeenong defeats Nauzet Trujillo via Decision – Unanimous (Round 3, 3:00)
Eknh-Orgil Baatarkhuu defeats Jhanlo Mark Sangiao via Submission – Kimura (Round 2, 2:53)
The full ONE Fight Night 13 event replay, including Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida v Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane and every other match listed above, is available to watch on the official YouTube Channel of ONE Championship:
