Winner of IBJJF’s Grand Prix held July 9th in Las Vegas, Marcus Almeida Buchecha, took the time to express his thoughts about the unique event that featured a huge cash prize.

Almeida praised the IBJJF in an interview to GracieMag:

“IBJJF should be congratulated for taking initiative to offer a prize as big as the Absolute Division of ADCC. The format and the criteria for selecting participants were also good. I’m glad to have been in the first event. I always fought for an even of this format. I complained for a long time. So when they called me, I accepted first even if I wasn’t going to be 100%. – said Buchecha

Buchecha spoke about the road to the prize.

“My first fight was with Bruno Bastos, who is a veteran and an experienced athlete who I have fought against a few times. I avoided his guard game, came back and finished. This fight set the rhythm making sure I did well in the competition.

Second fight was with Joao Gabriel. He is improving his jiu-jitsu with every fight. I made a silly mistake and he managed to get on my back. I train very defensive positions at the gym so I was prepared for the different situation. I tried to finish but he escaped. I was 7-0 and still had one more fight so I preferred not to risk an injury. I held out and took the victory but he fought much better then before…

In the final I faced Leo Nogueira. Our struggles were similar. I blitzed in the beginning making sure I had two advantages. Then I tried to pass the guard but he managed to escape in the last minute. Unfortunately it was a tied fight but not every fight is great (to watch)” – concluded Buchecha.