Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has recently announced that he will be making the shift to mixed martial arts and will begin training as soon as he recovers from a knee injury.
This formidable black belt holder and ten time BJJ World Champion stated that he was always interested in MMA, but was worried about the possibility of injuries. However, when he injured his knee in a BJJ match, he realized that injuries could happen in any ring. MMA also offers better financial opportunities, which was another key consideration in the move.
Buchecha told Combate:
“I always wanted to do it, I have always been curious about it, but I never rushed it. I always chased my goals in jiu-jitsu where I got 10 world titles, six of them as a blackbelt. Time goes by and after this injury in my knee I thought about many things, I don’t want to postpone it any further. As soon as I get better, I will start boxing, I’ve been thinking about this a lot.”
Buchecha injured his knee while fighting against Ricardo Evangelista in the Jiu-Jitsu World championships in May 2015. The injury cost him the match and forced him out of the ADCC Submission World Wrestling Championship 2015. The injury required Buchecha to undergo surgery on his left knee to reconstruct the ACL ligament, and he was ordered to spend five months recovering before fighting again.
The move to MMA will no doubt be an easy transition for Buchecha, as he has already spent time training at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) with UFC champions like Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez. In addition, many sponsors are already taking note of his star potential and expressing interest.
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