“There was a lot to learn” – ‘Buchecha’ on why losing to ‘Reug Reug’ will make him a better MMA fighter

17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has seen better days.

It’s been six months since ONE heavyweights ‘Buchecha’ and ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane shared the ring at ONE Fight Night 13 in Bangkok. Their heavyweight bout featured 15 minutes of grueling back-and-forth action - perhaps the wildest we’ve ever seen in the stacked division.

It was the ultimate test for both men to see who deserved to fight the current ONE heavyweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin. In the beginning, 'Buchecha' seemed to dominate on the ground with his wrestling, but ‘Reug Reug’s takedown defense and debilitating striking power proved the most effective.

After a very close match, ‘Buchecha’ was handed his first career loss by unanimous decision. As an athlete who’s not used to losing, getting his first MMA loss after riding a four-fight win streak was a difficult pill to swallow.

However, despite the ups and downs, Buchecha is gracious in defeat. Appearing on the Jaxxon Podcast, the Brazilian phenom explained:

‘I have only five fights. I got four victories and one loss, the last one was the only time that I fought three rounds. So there was a lot to learn, but it was a good experience to fight three rounds because the other four fights I finished them in the first round.”

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Two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin says ‘Buchecha’ needs a “reboot” following ‘Reug Reug’ loss

‘Buchecha’ has dreams of being an MMA world champion, but he’s got to make adjustments before accomplishing that goal. And who knows better about that than two-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin.

The Russian behemoth has beaten the best of the best in the division not just because he’s tough and powerful but because of the work he puts into his training every day. As the purveyor of his success story, Malykhin has only one piece of advice for the up-and-coming star.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Malykhin detailed:

“If ‘Buchecha’ had a little more experience and could control positions, throw punches without a rush, he would have easily taken this fight. So now, ‘Buchecha’ needs a little bit of a reboot.”