Marcus Buchecha didn’t carry out the way in which he hoped for on July 26, dropping a call to Martin Buday in his octagon debut at UFC Abu Dhabi. Not solely is he disillusioned together with his displaying, he’s unhappy that the promotion opted to not re-sign the person that defeated him.
Talking with MMA Combating in his first interview because the battle, Buchecha took full duty for the loss, admitting {that a} mixture of “numerous dangerous selections” led to the defeat.
“There’s no excuse,” Buchecha mentioned. “I made a mistake, and one mistake led to a different, which led to a different, and [Buday] actually was higher than me. Full credit score to him for the victory. He used his expertise and let me fuel myself out. I made numerous dangerous selections and paid the value. I additionally felt the stress, combating for the primary time within the UFC. Prefer it or not, it’s totally different. I felt like I needed to get out of there shortly, to finish the battle quick, and paid the value.”
Buchecha was 12 kilos lighter than Buday on weigh-in day, together with his opponent hitting the heavyweight restrict at 266 kilos. When it was time to enter the cage, he regrets not being extra affected person.
“After I felt he was stronger and heavier than I imagined, I might have waited extra, believed extra in my fingers,” Buchecha mentioned. “I rushed issues an excessive amount of. And after I began trusting my fingers and began touchdown, I used to be already very drained — and had already tried six, seven dangerous takedown makes an attempt. It was one dangerous determination after the opposite. I’ve nobody in charge however myself.”
Though it was a unanimous determination, Buday vs. Buchecha was an in depth, uneventful match the place neither fighter was capable of dominate the opponent. The Brazilian heavyweight, one of the vital adorned grapplers in jiu-jitsu historical past, is now 0-2 in MMA in fights that went previous the primary spherical — he completed the opposite 5, all below the ONE Championship banner.
Towards “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane, the primary man to beat him in Asia, “I received hit loads within the first spherical and suffered a concussion,” Buchecha mentioned. “I used to be surviving in rounds two and three, on autopilot. I keep in mind all the things, even, however it was pure intuition. Not this time. Although I used to be drained, I might nonetheless discuss to my corners in between rounds, I might hearken to them. It wasn’t the way in which I needed, however it’s an expertise. And that may for positive result in classes for the following one.”
Buchecha hopes his subsequent one is round late November or early December, and guidelines out being a part of UFC’s upcoming Struggle Evening occasion in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 11 since it will imply a shorter coaching camp.
Buday, nonetheless, received’t have one other probability contained in the octagon subsequent. The Buchecha win was the ultimate bout of his contract, and the promotion opted to not re-sign him regardless of the actual fact he was ranked within the top-15 of the heavyweight division.
“Truthfully, I used to be unhappy,” Buchecha mentioned. “I used to be unhappy for him as a result of he’s a pleasant man. I knew him from years in the past, we ended up coaching collectively in Abu Dhabi — he was a blue belt, I already was a black belt, a world champion, and we skilled collectively. … We revered one another loads throughout battle week. And he’s 7-1 within the UFC. [UFC champion Tom] Aspinall is 8-1, you realize? There was no cause to chop him, proper? I used to be unhappy as a result of he was well-ranked and all people thought he would climb the rating much more, and ended up [released].”
The jiu-jitsu ace realizes issues are totally different in combined martial arts. Leisure and enterprise go hand in hand with the precise consequence of a battle, profitable and dropping, however the soft-spoken Buchecha mentioned he received’t act otherwise earlier than and after UFC bouts.
“I’m who I’m,” Buchecha mentioned. “I’m 35 years previous, and I received’t change now that I’m a grown up. You received’t see me sporting fur coats, smoking cigars and speaking crap at all people in press conferences. That can by no means occur, you realize?
“I come from jiu-jitsu,” he continued. “Many legends got here from jiu-jitsu and confirmed their work in there with none of that. Perhaps they haven’t gotten as far by way of advertising and title, however I wish to go there and do my job. If I’ve to advertise the battle, we’ll do it, however I don’t have to cross this line. I’m who I’m and I received’t change due to this.”
