Marcus Buchecha was considered the best grappler on the planet for years, collecting a total of 13 world championships in jiu-jitsu and two ADCC gold medals among other accomplishments. He won’t rush things in MMA, but is confident that he will be called ONE heavyweight champion one day.
“The goal is to be the one, to be at the top,” Buchecha said on this week’s episode of MMA Fighting podcast Trocacao Franca ahead of Friday’s clash with Kirill Grishenko at ONE’s debut on Amazon Prime Video. “The final goal is always to be the best, to be among the best and beat them. I was all in with MMA, and now dedicate my entire life to it. It was like that in jiu-jitsu and would’t be any different in MMA.
“I don’t know when, but [becoming champion] is definitely my goal. I have no rush, I got time. Two years ago, I started the sport. I can’t say when, but I will get there. One day at a given time, I only consider the present. This is how I am learning to live. You only have to live the today because sometimes the tomorrow never comes. My focus is on fighting [Grishenko] now, and I think the rest will happen naturally.”
Buchecha left the grappling world in 2019 and made his highly anticipated MMA debut two years later at ONE, tapping Anderson “Braddock” Silva with a north-south choke in under three minutes. His next fight saw him submit Ji Won Kang using a rear-naked choke. Buchecha improved to 3-0 this past June, stopping Simon Carson with punches.
” Actually, I was [throwing punches from mount] in order to make space for submissions, but I was still able to adjust both my hips and legs really well,” Buchecha stated. “The moment he turned there, I had such a good position he couldn’t move, so I started hitting. Although he was not defending himself, I believed he would escape and that I would strike with a submission. … I really wasn’t expecting a stoppage. The referee finally stopped. It was an amazing relief.
Buchecha said that ending a fight with punches taught him an important lesson because sometimes, he said, other jiu-jitsu fighters “force positions that aren’t there, so the punches give you great advantage creating spaces.” The American Top Team talent is now 3-0 in the sport with three quick finishes, and wants to keep the streak going against Grishenko.
” I’d lie to you if you told me I wanted to fight three rounds,” Buchecha chuckled. “If I can always end it in the first round, that’s a dream for me. The goal is to submit in the first round. I’m ready to fight three or five rounds, I don’t have this rush of getting out of there.”
Grishenko is 5-1 in the sport and looks to rebound from the first defeat of his career, losing to Anatoly Malykhin for the interim ONE heavyweight title in February. The Belarusian fighter scored three of his five MMA wins by knockout and one via submission, and Buchecha calls him “a great challenge” for his fourth MMA appearance.
“I really feel like a MMA fighter now,” Buchecha said. My jiu jitsu works, it was easy to learn and adapt. Although there is always more to be done, I have been able adapt my jiu jitsu, and it flows much better. … Nothing scares me. I train with Steve Mocco here, one of the best wrestlers, so I feel very confident. This is sure to be an exciting challenge .”
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