One of history’s most decorated grapplers continues to look like a problem in the ONE Championship cage.
Multi-time jiu-jitsu champion Marcus Almeida (4-0), aka “Buchecha,” preserved his unbeaten MMA run on Friday at ONE Championship’s broadcast debut on Amazon Prime, needing just 64 seconds to submit Kirill Grishenko (5-2) with an incredibly slick heel hook. In a featured heavyweight bout, Almeida stumbled Grishenko early with a calf kick then used a takedown attempt to transition instantly into the fight-ending submission.
Watch video above of Almeida finishing her impressive job.
Afterward, an emotional “Buchecha” was brought to tears and dedicated his performance to his late friend Leandro Lo, a fellow jiu-jitsu legend who was shot to death in Brazil earlier this month by police officer Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo in a senseless act of violence.
” I lost one of the best friends,” Almeida cried. The guy was my brother. The result was tragic. At first I almost tried 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.
“But now I see that he is up there celebrating my win, at the very least. It is so difficult .”
A longer clip of Almeida’s victory can be seen below.
Marcus Almeida ends in the 1st round with a heel hook! pic.twitter.com/qisP9qnTfn
— Follow @FTBeard7 (@FTBeard7) August 27, 2022
