Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is one of the most successful Jiu-Jitsu competitors in the history of the sport, and he recently revealed who he thinks is the actual GOAT. For many people that person would be Buchecha himself, as he currently holds the record for most IBJJF World Championship titles at 13. Buchecha also won a pair of ADCC gold medals during his career and stood on the podium an incredible four more times outside of those two titles. He has personally shared the mats with dozens of the sport’s biggest legends and unsurprisingly, his choice for the greatest of all time was one of them.
There are only a handful of men and women in contention for the title of course, but it seemed like a very easy question for Buchecha to answer:
“I think Roger (Gracie)… Because Roger did what he did, he gave his face with gi, he won the world titles there.”
Before Buchecha won even his first IBJJF world title at black belt, it was Roger who held the record at 10 and that looked like an insurmountable number at the time. The two men were both dominant champions for many years, but Buchecha thinks they actually had very different experiences:
“It was very different from my career because he lost a lot and he continued, he managed to win, he persisted, persisted, and he managed to win the titles.”
Although he is a top contender for being the Jiu-Jitsu GOAT himself, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has since left the sport behind to pursue MMA. Roger did a very similar thing at one point in his career and that’s actually another reason that Buchecha picked him:
“Roger went there, fought in MMA… he’s a guy who left the comfort zone, so he tested himself in the gi, in MMA, fought in all the organizations, even though he didn’t like MMA.”
Although the bulk of their careers took place during different periods, they did face each other twice. Roger came out of retirement to face Buchecha at the first ever Metamoris event in 2012, and they fought to a draw in a very tough match. Roger returned to his retirement after that match and Buchecha kept on winning world titles, until Roger came out of retirement once again to submit Buchecha in the rematch. It was one of the biggest moments in Jiu-Jitsu history and it cemented Roger’s legacy; one that Buchecha wanted to recognise:
“How can I respect him if I don’t say he’s the GOAT?”
For what it’s the worth, the feeling is apparently mutual. Roger feels a similar way toward Buchecha and everything that he’s accomplished in the sport, showing that the two former rivals have nothing but respect for one another.
The full interview with Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida where he explains why he believes that Roger Gracie is the Jiu-Jitsu GOAT was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of The Connect Cast Podcast:
