Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida is impressed with the skills of Fabricio Andrade and expects “Wonder Boy” to do well in his fight for the vacant ONE bantamweight world title this week.
Andrade looks to complete an unfinished business when he collided with John “Hands of Stone” Lineker for the bantamweight belt in a rematch at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video on February 24 in Bangkok.
It is a redo of their first encounter for the title back in October, which ended in a no-contest. The event will take place at the famous Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will be aired live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.
Buchecha is excited about the rematch, seeing how explosive the first encounter was, and believes Andrade will emerge as the winner.
The ONE heavyweight contender shared to ONE Championship:
“I’m really looking forward to seeing this fight between Fabricio and Lineker. [Their first fight] was a wild fight, but it ended up in a no-contest. I saw Fabricio’s superiority, and I think he’ll come back even better and come out with the victory. This fight does not end until the end, but I think Fabricio will be the champion.”
While his previous fight did not have a definitive ending, Andrade was still impressed with his dominant showing against Lineker, anchored on stern aggressiveness and effective striking.
Buchecha, for his part, is waiting for word on his next fight but has made it known that he wants to vie for the world title in his division. He last fought in August last year, defeating Belarusian fighter Kirill Grishenko by submission in the opening round.
It is a mixed martial art for Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida for now in ONE Championship but is open to competing in submission grappling again in the future.
Currently one of the best fighters in the division under the promotion, the 17-time BJJ world champion is happy to see grappling get a share of the spotlight in ONE along with other combat sports.
It has stoked excitement in him of maybe going back and competing in the sport down the line.
Buchecha told ONE Championship:
“Every [submission grappling] fight I watch makes me more excited to one day fight in ONE’s submission grappling division.”
While he has not competed under submission grappling rules in ONE, the American top team fighter's BJJ background has been prominent in his MMA victories, which currently stand at four with zero defeats. His latest win was last August over Belarusian Kirill Grishenko by submission inside 65 seconds.
Since making his promotional debut in September 2021, Buchecha has his sights set on being crowned ONE heavyweight world champion. In line with that, he will be a keen observer of the unification bout between reigning world champion Arjan Bhullar and interim champ Anatoly Malykhin next month.
