"Muhammad Ali was so inspiring" - 'Buchecha' says he was inspired by late boxing legend's illustrious career
Like many in combat sports, heavyweight MMA fighter Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida was also inspired by what late boxing legend Muhammad Ali did during his illustrious career.
Ali was the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion from 1974 to 1978 and is often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He became a legendary sporting figure not only for what he did for the sport of boxing but, more importantly, for the social activism he was involved in until his death in 2016.
Speaking on the YouTube channel of Renzo Gracie Academy Dubai, 'Buchecha' shared his thoughts on 'The Greatest', including how he would have wanted to have the opportunity to hang out with Ali and talk about his legend and life outside of boxing.
The 33-year-old American Top Team and Evolve MMA heavyweight star said:
"I think Muhammad Ali and to [also] have the opportunity to hang out with him. Muhammad Ali was so inspiring because of the whole way that he [presented himself] and it was kind of like innovating without much of the trash-talking and of course with the history with all his techniques and all the remarkable moments that he had in his life."
Check out what he had to say below:
'Buchecha' is also a legend in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a multi-time world champion. He is now looking to have the same success as he transitions to MMA under ONE Championship.
Since making his promotional debut in September 2021, he has won four of five fights, which all came by finishes inside the opening round.
'Buchecha' cites perseverance as one of the things he has learned from doing BJJ
Apart from the many individual accolades he has garnered doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida said perseverance is one of the life lessons he has learned from doing the sport and something that is working for him as he ventures into MMA.
It comes in handy especially in moments he finds himself in difficult spots in MMA, allowing him to better survey the situations, come up with best solutions and forge ahead.
He shared over the YouTube channel of Renzo Gracie Academy Dubai:
"So it doesn't matter how bad things are. I always believe that I'm going to overcome the situation and get a submission even if it's like two seconds left on the clock, it's still time. So I'm still going to fight until the end. So there's no really specific move but more like a mindset to never give up until the last second of the fight."
'Buchecha' was last in action in August, where he suffered his first defeat in ONE by unanimous decision to Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane of Senegal. It was a defeat he wants to redeem himself from when he returns to action.