Jiu-jitsu legend Marcus Buchecha wants to get back in the ONE Championship cage but says the promotion is not offering him fights.
A 13-time IBJJF world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist, Buchecha hasn’t competed for the Asia-based promotion since August 2023, when he lost a decision in a wild brawl with “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane.
Buchecha was 4-0 in MMA prior to that with four first-round stoppages under the ONE banner over Anderson “Braddock” Silva, Ji Won Kang, Simon Carson, and Kirill Grishenko.
“A lot of people are asking me lately if I retired,” Buchecha wrote on social media. “The answer is of course not, the reason I’m not fighting it’s not my choice, I’ve been out waiting for a fight for almost one year but I don’t have luck getting a fight, that’s the reason I’m away from cage or the mats.
“The right question you should ask me is when I’m fighting again? But right now I’m asking to some people the same thing, to be more precise 13 months. It’s been 13 months of waiting, to be in a situation like that it’s sucks, I don’t wish this to anybody! So if you want this answer, you know who to ask and tag ONE Championship.”
Fellow American Top Team fighters reacted in the comment section asking ONE to give him a fight, and ATT coach Marcos Parrumpa went a step further to call ONE Championship the “worst show ever.”
“Please release him,” Parrumpa wrote. “We want to see him in a good show.”
The battle with Reug Reug went down August 2023, and Almeida hasn’t fought since then. Earlier on Thursday, Almeida posted to social media to complain about the unwanted layoff. According to “Buchecha,” he’s been asking for a fight but has been sidelined so long that people are asking if he’s retired.
“A lot of people are asking me lately if I retired,” he began. “The answer is of course not, the reason I’m not fighting it’s not my choice, I’ve been out waiting for a fight for almost one year but I don’t have luck getting a fight, that’s the reason I’m away from cage or the mats. The right question you should ask me is when I’m fighting again? But right now I’m asking to some people the same thing, to be more precise 13 months. It’s been 13 months of waiting, to be in a situation like that it’s sucks, I don’t wish this to anybody! So if you want this answer, you know who to ask and tag! [One Championship]”
Unfortunately, Buchecha is not alone in having problems with One. The promotion has shifted away from MMA, holding more and more Muay Thai fights. Many theorize that it’s an attempt to keep costs down to improve financial numbers for their next round of fundraising. It’s not just cage fighters either. Pound-for-pound kickboxing king, Chingiz Allazov, is actively feuding with the promotion online and recently announced his intent to fight elsewhere despite his contract with One.
At 34 years of age, Buchecha doesn’t have time to sit around forever. Hopefully, he’s booked sooner than later.
He signed with a promotion that has no real HW division, what does he expect