Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida is one of the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes of all time.
A 17-time BJJ world champion, as well as a 4-0 pro MMA record holder, Buchecha is well-known for his explosive grappling game.
But how did he develop it?
Almeida revealed in a recent interview with ONE Championship:
This explosive game of always moving forward started early on when I was a [BJJ] blue belt, but of course, it got better as I gained experience.
And still today, I’m developing this game of moving forward, always looking for the submission.
He was influenced by many of the BJJ’s greats:
I always really enjoyed watching Leo Vieira, who is my master.
Marcelo Garcia, Roger Gracie, Xande Ribeiro, Ronaldo Jacaré, and Fernando Terere were other references.Those were the ones I watched the most when I started Jiu-Jitsu.
Ricardo Arona is an athlete Buchecha looked up to a lot:
Ricardo Arona is a guy I’ve always been a big fan of.
I always enjoyed watching him because of his aggressive fighting style, with very good physical conditioning and a forward-moving game. I’ve always been inspired by that type of fighter.I’ve always been a fan of his, and I’ve tried to take a bit of that game to apply to mine.
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