BJJ legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida says his first-round finish of Amir Aliakbari was “one of the biggest challenges” of his career
It may have ended in the blink of an eye, but Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida said his first-round submission win over Amir Aliakbari is one of the most important chapters of his growing MMA career.
The BJJ legend scored a stunning rear-naked choke finish over Aliakbari in the first round of their heavyweight matchup at the stacked ONE 169 card this past weekend at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.
Taking to Instagram following his win, Almeida said it was in his game plan to bring Aliakbari to the canvas and work his way to a sublime submission finish.
'Buchecha' shared a clip of his slick finish and described his win as one of the biggest challenges in his MMA career:
He wrote:
"A highlight of my last MMA fight a couple of days ago in @onechampionship. This fight was definitely one of the biggest challenges of my career, I fought against a high-level and very experienced athlete. But fortunately, I was able to follow the plan, and the strategy, and used my Jiu-Jitsu to get the win."
Almeida added:
"I used the double leg, a lot of the Folding Pass concepts, and a bit of the Half Guard concepts too until I managed to finish from the back! It’s so good to be back! Let me know which move you liked the most!🙏🏻🙌🏻"
Although Aliakbari is a former Greco-Roman Wrestling world champion, Almeida's pedigree as a 17-time BJJ world champion became the highlight of the contest.
Almeida, despite standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing in at 260 pounds, swiftly put Aliakbari on his back with a slick double-leg takedown before he eventually locked in the clinical rear-naked choke finish.
The Brazilian superstar is now 5-1 in his MMA career, with all five of his wins coming via first-round finish.
'Buchecha' says he always knew Amir Aliakbari was going to be a tough fight
Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling are two of the most fundamental aspects of MMA, and the matchup between Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida and Amir Aliakbari was virtual proof of that.
Almeida's BJJ, however, proved to be the dominant discipline in their matchup in Bangkok.
In an interview with Nick Atkin for Bangkok Post, Almeida said he expected a tough fight from Aliakbari while giving props to the Iranian superstar:
"I have such great respect for Amir Aliakbari. He's a great champion, former Greco-Roman champion. I knew it would be a very tough fight."