Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has just been promoted to 4th degree BJJ black belt by his legendary coach and the founder of the Checkmat team, Leo Vieira. Buchecha has proven himself to be one of the greatest competitors in the history of the sport and this latest promotion marks an incredible 14 years as a black belt. Over that time, he’s won more IBJJF World Championship gold medals than anyone else and a pair of ADCC titles as well. He’s even had the time to embark upon a professional MMA career as well, currently holding a 4-1 professional record while competing at ONE Championship exclusively.
It’s been an incredible career so far for Almeida and he’s been very clear this year that he’s not done yet either. He’s still in his athletic prime and with heavyweights generally enjoying a longer career than lighter competitors, it’s likely that he has several years left in combat sports. Although black belt degree promotions are done based on the time served at that rank, each degree is still a big moment in a grappler’s career. It couldn’t have happened at a nicer time either, as Almeida was given the degree in front of a big crowd at Jiu-Jitsu Con 2024.
Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida announced the news that he had been promoted to 4th degree BJJ black belt in a recent post to his official Instagram account. He also included the following comment:
”4th Black Belt Degree, time flies! It feels like yesterday when I got my Black Belt in the podium right after winning Brown Belt Worlds in 2010. It’s been an amazing journey which I am very proud of it and blesseed to receive that from the hands of my master Leo Vieira. Thank you every single one who is with me in this journey. ‘Don’t count the days, make the days count.’”
