Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida had now got his second chance in the UFC, as he will be returning against Kennedy Nzuchukwu at UFC Vegas 112 on December 13th, 2025. He will be looking to right the ship and bounce back from the decision loss he suffered against Martin Buday in his debut at UFC on ABC 9 earlier this year. It was a very tough way to be introduced to the highest level of the sport for Buchecha in fairness, as Buday has had more than twice as many professional fights as Buchecha and he was already 6-1 in the UFC at the time of their fight.
Nzechukwu is even more experienced than Buday, but he hasn’t had the same level of consistent success. He has a 14-6 professional MMA record and has been fighting in the UFC for over 6 years, but he has gone 8-6 during his time with the promotion. He’s a knockout artist first and foremost, having finished 10 opponents with strikes over the course of his career. Obviously that will present some problems for a BJJ legend like Buchecha but if he can get the fight to the ground then he does have a clear path to success. Nzechukwu has been submitted twice so far and someone like Buchecha only needs a tiny window to end the fight.
This will most likely end up as a classic striker vs grappler matchup, as Nzechukwu will want to keep the fight standing to play to his strengths and Buchecha will want to do the exact opposite. It’s also going to be a very important fight for Buchecha in terms of his overall MMA career, as a loss against Nzechukwu could signal the end of his time in the UFC. Not many fighters get kept after going 0-2 in their first two fights and if Buchecha is released, there aren’t many other places out there any more. He already left ONE Championship behind so would most likely be left pursuing a contract with PFL, or returning to BJJ competition instead.
UFC Brasil announced the news that Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida would be facing Kennedy Nzuchukwu at UFC Vegas 113 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
