Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida has been on a strong run in MMA, but he recently revealed that the road hasn’t been as smooth as it may have appeared.

In fact, the grappling legend considered retiring altogether due to the restrictive nature of MMA contracts.

The issue, which has been widely criticized in recent years, revolves around long-term exclusive contracts and post-contract matching clauses – agreements that can keep fighters tied to promotions even after fulfilling their original obligations.
Buchecha’s own journey is a textbook example of this frustrating system.

After signing with ONE Championship in 2020, Buchecha spent over three years and six fights with the organization.
He shared with MMAFighting just how difficult it was to complete that contract and eventually walk away from the promotion:

It was hard to get out of that contract, but we did it.

I went there and was a man (of my word), signed a six-fight contract and did all my six fights and left through the front door.
But now, as you said, I’m free. I’m excited to fight.

It’s been a while since I’ve entered a fight without all that stress in the backstage.
Many people only see what happens when you step into the ring or cage and fight, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes.

It’s a lot of stress. It’s bad for the mental health of the athlete.
I’ve had bad days, but now it’s all in the past. There’s only good things coming ahead.

The mental and emotional toll was so heavy that Buchecha even thought about walking away from the sport entirely:

It crossed my mind many times to retire because I couldn’t take it no more, that was killing me inside.
Not having a fight and not being able to fight.

When you have a contract like that, not only with that organization, when you can’t even fight in other sports.

In this case, imagine me being unable to even compete in Jiu-Jitsu.
That was something that bothered me a lot.

Even after completing all six of his contracted fights, Buchecha had to wait out the matching period – a window of time in which his former promotion had the right to match any competing offers:

After I finished my contract, after I did all six fights. I had to wait that matching period, which every contact has, but I already knew what I wanted, that I didn’t want to re-sign with them.

And I knew there would be something out there for me when the contract ended. So I did a camp focused on the contract deadline. I knew it would be just a matter of time. It has taken eight months, but I knew I would be free after eight months. And signing with the UFC, which was my desire and dream, I knew the UFC would get me to fight quickly. Not for nothing, my contract ended now and I’m already fighting later this month. It’s been a dream for me.

Now, with his UFC debut scheduled for July 26th against ranked heavyweight Martin Buday at UFC on ABC 9, Buchecha is finally where he wants to be…
And ready for the toughest challenge of his MMA career:

When they said the UFC wanted to sign me I said: “I don’t even want to know when and against who, get me a fight.”

(Buday) is ranked, he’s tough.
He’s a veteran in the UFC because he already has seven fights and six wins there, so he’s very tough.

He has a lot of experience, way more than me in the sport, but I’m driven by challenges.
I’m sure this will be the biggest challenge of my career so far, but I’m excited.

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