Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus Buchecha makes his octagon debut later this month, taking up Martin Buday on July 26 at UFC Abu Dhabi, however the heavyweight expertise nearly by no means made it this far.
In truth, he thought-about ending his profession throughout a feud along with his earlier promotion, ONE Championship.
The 13-time IBJJF world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist lastly made his transition to MMA in 2021, leaving a historic grappling profession behind to embark on a brand new problem. Buchecha signed with ONE and made quick work of Anderson “Braddock” Silva that September, rapidly bettering to 4-0 with 4 first-round finishes in lower than a yr.
Then issues took a shocking flip.
Buchecha solely returned to motion 12 months later, dropping a call to future heavyweight champion “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane. As soon as once more, he was compelled to sit down out for even longer, going through—and submitting—Amir Aliakbari after a 15-month break. That was the final bout of his cope with the Singapore-based firm, however he nonetheless needed to wait a very long time earlier than signing with one other MMA promotion.
“It was onerous to get out of that contract, however we did it,” Buchecha advised MMA Combating. “I went there and was a person [of my word], signed a six-fight contract and did all my six fights and left by way of the entrance door. However now, as you stated, I’m free. I’m excited to battle. It’s been some time since I’ve entered a battle with out all that stress within the backstage. Many individuals solely see what occurs if you step into the ring or cage and battle, however there’s loads occurring behind the scenes. It’s a variety of stress. It’s dangerous for the psychological well being of the athlete. I’ve had dangerous days, however now it’s all up to now. There’s solely good issues coming forward.”
Buchecha needs to maneuver on from his, at instances, troubled relationship with ONE, and thanks his supervisor Ali Abdelaziz for strolling him by way of this course of. The American Prime Workforce heavyweight stated he was by no means given a cause as to why he wasn’t supplied fights for a lot of months.
“It crossed my thoughts many instances to retire as a result of I couldn’t take it no extra, that was killing me inside,” Buchecha stated. “Not having a battle and never having the ability to battle. When you might have a contract like that, not solely with that group, when you possibly can’t even battle in different sports activities. On this case, think about me being unable to even compete in jiu-jitsu. That was one thing that bothered me loads. However thank God it’s over. It was fairly aggravating, however now [I’m] free and prepared for the brand new challenges.”
“After I completed my contract, after I did all six fights,” he continued, “I needed to wait that matching interval, which each and every contact has, however I already knew what I wished, that I didn’t need to re-sign with them. And I knew there could be one thing on the market for me when the contract ended. So I did a camp centered on the contract deadline. I knew it will be only a matter of time. It has taken eight months, however I knew I’d be free after eight months. And [after] signing with the UFC, which was my need and dream, I knew the UFC would get me to battle rapidly. Not for nothing, my contract ended now and I’m already preventing later this month. It’s been a dream for me.”
Buchecha debuts beneath the intense lights of the UFC contained in the Etihad Area in Abu Dhabi, a metropolis the place he has shined many instances up to now as a grappler.
“Once they stated the UFC wished to signal me I stated, ‘I don’t even need to know when and in opposition to who, get me a battle,’” Buchecha stated. “[Buday] is ranked, he’s robust. He’s a veteran within the UFC as a result of he already has seven fights and 6 wins there, so he’s very robust. He has a variety of expertise, far more than me within the sport, however I’m pushed by challenges. I’m certain this would be the largest problem of my profession up to now, however I’m excited.”
