Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida managed to bounce back with a huge win in his return to MMA at ONE 169 on November 8th, 2024. He was coming off the first loss of his career in his last fight against Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane and coupled with 15 months away from competition, this was always going to be an important fight for Buchecha. The stakes were even higher though, as Buchecha was facing an incredibly tough test in the form of Amir Aliakbari. It wasn’t just a tough fight in the ring though; this fight was going to have a huge impact on Buchecha’s career because he was intent on testing the waters of free agency after it.
It seemed as though the time off did Buchecha some good, as he came back with a fire lit under him against Aliakbari. He was absolutely clinical on the ground, passing Aliakbari’s guard early on and forcing him to turtle as a result. That small window of opportunity was all Buchecha needed, as he sunk both hooks in and locked up a rear-naked choke that forced Aliakbari to tap. Buchecha left ONE 169 with a 5-1 professional MMA record and a $50,000 ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus thanks to the win. Another notable fight took place later in the night too, as Kade Ruotolo also got a first-round finish in his fight against Ahmed Mujtaba.
ONE 169 Full Results
Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane defeats Anatoly Malykhin via Decision – Split
Rodtang Jitmuangnon defeats Jacob Smith via Decision – Unanimous
Jackie Buntan defeats Anissa Meksen via Decision – Unanimous
Adriano Moraes defeats Danny Kingad via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Kongthoranee Sor Sommai defeats Tagir Khalilov via Decision – Unanimous
Kade Ruotolo defeats Ahmed Mujtba via Submission – D’Arce Choke
Sam-A Gaiyanghadao defeats Zhang Peimian via Decision – Unanimous
Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida defeats Amir Aliakbari via Sbmission – Rear-naked Choke
Mohamed Younes Rabah defeats Eddie Abasolo via Decision – Unanimous
Ayaka Miura defeats Macarena Aragon via Submission – Scarfhold Americana
Aliff Sor Dechapan defeats Walter Goncalves via Decision – Unanimous
The full ONE 169 event replay, including Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida submitting Amir Aliakbari, is available to watch on Sky Sports.
