Anatoly Malykhin, a two-division ONE world champion, believes that Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is not finished with the competition just yet.
At last weekend’s ONE Fight Night 13, the 17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion suffered the first loss of his mixed martial arts career when he was defeated by ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane in a decision that was decided by a large margin of points.
In spite of the fact that he was the betting favorite going into the high-stakes heavyweight fight, ‘Buchecha’ was simply overpowered by the Senegalese behemoth, who left his face a bloody mess after three grueling rounds.
It was without a doubt one of the more surprising outcomes from the action-packed card, especially when one considers that the majority of fans and commentators believed the Brazilian was ready to challenge Malykhin for the world title.
Anatoly Malykhin believes that despite this setback, ‘Buchecha’ will become a far more skilled fighter as a direct result of this crushing loss.
The show ‘Buchecha’ is in desperate need of a refresh at this point. He is an extremely skilled combatant. According to what Malykhin said in an interview for ONE Championship, all he needs to do is pick himself up, head back to the gym, and put in some serious effort.
“Buchecha” took the mixed martial arts world by storm after a renowned career in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by winning four consecutive fights, all of which were finished in the first round.
The product of American Top Team demonstrated well-rounded talents with his striking and wrestling, while the legendary BJJ arsenal he possessed translated extremely well into mixed martial arts.
To judge by what ‘Buchecha’ lacks in comparison to the physical specimen known as ‘Reug Reug,’ however, it would appear that he has a long way to go before reaching his full potential.
Despite this, Malykhin continues to have faith that the Brazilian will make a full recovery and that their rematch will still take place in the relatively near future. He continued:
“I have no doubt that our fight will attract a large crowd at some point in the future.”
Current Prime Video users in North America get access to a cost-free replay of ONE Fight Night 13, which took place earlier this month.
