'Buchecha' Interested To Figure In Openweight All-Grappling Tourney Under ONE Championship

For the past 12 months, ONE Championship has been devoted to conferring premium on submission grappling alongside other combat disciplines such as mixed martial arts (MMA), Muay Thai and kickboxing.

The Singapore-based outfit has made an effort to bolster its ranks with the best and brightest athletes in the sport today, recruiting the likes of Mikey Musumeci, Andre Galvao, Danielle Kelly and the Ruotolo brothers.

Apart from installing a vice president tasked to oversee its activity and expansion in the form of Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Leo Vieira, ONE Championship has likewise crowned two inaugural world champions in submission grappling.

With everything going on to elevate submission grappling on a mainstream scale, Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida feels the itch to step on the mats again.

"Every fight I watch makes me more excited to fight in ONE's submission grappling division one day," he said in a recent interview.

Almeida needs no formal introduction to the most die-hard fans of submission grappling as he has copped a total of 13 gold medals at the IBJJF World Championship—commonly known as "Mundials"—from 2012 to 2019.

In addition, "Buchecha" has been a constant podium finisher on the highly-regarded ADCC stage.

Now, the 33-year-old Sao Paulo, Brazil native is committed to channeling all of his focus on MMA.

So far, Almeida is undefeated with an impressive 4-0 MMA record, winning three of them by way of first-round submission.

However, he seems willing to set aside his goal of capturing an MMA world title under the ONE Championship banner if the organization decides to host an openweight World Grand Prix for submission grappling.

The uncapped weight class—also referred to as "absolute"—has been a long staple of submission grappling competition as it is covered by all major jiu-jitsu governing bodies.

"An openweight of submission grappling is something that makes a lot of sense. I'm a guy who's always been into fighting at weight and openweight, and I've always liked the openweight concept, with the chance for champions from other divisions to face each other. The absolute champion is the best of the year," Almeida stated.

What Almeida pitched isn't too far off from happening in reality as the promotion is set to hold a 16-man openweight tournament for Muay Thai with $1 million at stake later this year.

But in the meantime, "Buchecha" will opt to enjoy the action from the sidelines.

In fact, he has grown a fondness for Musumeci's body of work since the latter joined ONE Championship last year.

"I wouldn't miss a Mikey Musumeci fight," Almeida. "Mikey Musumeci showed why he is the champion and why no one has taken the belt away from him. He showed jiu-jitsu that was beautiful to watch and very technical."

"Even if the guy is tough and doesn't give up, the opponent will need to have something more to beat Mikey."

Musumeci is set to return to action at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5th to defend his ONE flyweight submission grappling belt against fellow jiu-jitsu world champion Osamah Almarwai.

ONE Fight Night 10—the company's first fight card on United States soil— is set to emanate from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, and it will be headlined by the much-awaited trilogy encounter between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes for the ONE flyweight championship.

Fans in the United States and other parts of North America will get to watch the aforementioned fight card on Amazon Prime Video.

Meanwhile, tickets to see it live on May 5 are now on sale through AXS and Stage Front VIP.