Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida will now be making his return to professional MMA against Amir Aliakbari at ONE 169 on November 8th, 2024. It’s been over a year since the BJJ legend was last seen fighting for ONE Championship and he’s even recently spoken about returning to BJJ instead. Although a grappling comeback might still be on the cards for Almeida, it seems like he still has plenty of time left in his MMA career as well. There’s a lot riding on this fight for Almeida too, as he’s coming off the first loss of his professional career after Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane beat him to a decision.
Almeida started out his MMA career incredibly well, racking up three submission wins and a TKO across his first four fights. Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane derailed his run to the heavyweight title with that decision loss and despite being eager to bounce back, ONE Championship weren’t able to find him an opponent until now. After a public plea for another fight, matchmakers managed to book Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida against a fellow lifelong grappler in Amir Aliakbari. It’ll be an interesting clash of styles too, as Almeida was a BJJ competitor for the majority of his combat sports career and Aliakbari is a world champion in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Aliakbari also has more experience as an MMA fighter, as he turned to the sport almost a decade ago after he was stripped of his second wrestling world championship and served a lifelong ban for doping. Aliakbari made his MMA debut in 2015 and amassed a 10-1 professional record competing for both RIZIN FF and on the regional MMA circuit. That’s when he moved to ONE Championship and he has since improved his record to 14-3, riding a four-fight winning streak into this fight. It’s a great opportunity for Buchecha as well, as snapping that streak with a decisive win would see him right back on the path to the title.
