Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida won his most recent ONE Championship match in spectacular fashion. He tapped out Kirill Grishenko just 64 seconds into the match, with a well-timed Heel Hook – and got one step closer to a possible title fight.
But it was the way Buchecha opened the fight that was also amazing. The BJJ black belt obviously made a lot of progress with his striking; as he landed a good low kick that knocked Grishenko off his feet.
He spoke about the improvements he made to ONE:
People would be like: “‘Oh, how’s your striking?” Like I said, I can strike for 15 minutes. You guys saw it. I threw some punches, I punched back. I got a good kick. And my striking is improving so much.
I do like three or four rounds with strikers, the best strikers in the world at the gym. So I have to, of course, thank my training partners. And my coach, my Muay Thai coach.
BJJ legend Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida
submits Kirill Grishenko with a BEAUTIFUL heel hook! @MarcusBuchecha#ONEonPrimeVideo1 | #ONEChampionship
Watch live on @PrimeVideo
https://t.co/CgbPo9u9AC
Watch live on PPV
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 27, 2022
Following the win, however, Buchecha was extremely sad. He shed tears for his longtime friend, Leandro Lo, who was killed earlier this month:
It’s hard to say. It’s hard to talk.
These last three weeks was the hardest time of my life. I lost one of my best friends. The guy was a brother to me. Lost in a tragic way.
First thing, I was trying to pull out of the fight. But for sure, he’s up there, he’s in the sky. If I pulled out he would be really mad at me. He would be mad at me because I’m giving up my dreams, my life, because of him.I know now he’s up there celebrating… Celebrating my victory.
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