ONE Fight Night 1: Buchecha ready to step up against Kirill Grishenko

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Bengaluru, August 23: Seventeen-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida has scored three stoppages since making his transition to MMA in ONE Championship, and now he's looking for number four.

He'll face one of the biggest tests of his young MMA career when he meets former ONE Heavyweight World Title challenger Kirill Grishenko at ONE Fight Night 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II on Saturday, 27 August, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Despite Grishenko's accolades, "Buchecha" refuses to be intimidated by his Belarusian opponent.

"Yeah, it's a huge step up. But I don't like to think like that. When I made my debut in ONE, Kirill was doing his debut at the same time, so we had the same amount of time in the house, right?" Almeida said.

"He has three fights in ONE. I got three, going for my fourth one. Before that, he didn't have much experience in MMA, so I think it's fair."

Long before he entered the MMA sphere, "Buchecha" was a celebrity in the grappling world. The ADCC World Champion picked up a staggering record of 138-14-1 and was known as one of the hardest men to beat.

With 17 World Championships under his belt, Almeida is one of the most decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes of all time. Now he has brought these skills to the Circle, where they have served him well. The 32-year-old's first two victories in the organization came by first-round submissions, and his latest win over Simon Carson at ONE 158 was via knockout.

In Grishenko, he'll face a heavyweight who made his ONE debut with a KO of Oumar "Reug Reug" Kane at "ONE on TNT IV" in April 2021. The Belarusian then fought Anatoly "Sladkiy" Malykhin at ONE: BAD BLOOD in February but was unsuccessful in his attempts for the ONE Interim Heavyweight World Title.

Depending on how this fight turns out, it could put either athlete in the running for a shot at the ONE Heavyweight World Championship, which will be determined by interim champ Malykhin and ONE Heavyweight World Champion Arjan Bhullar at ONE 161 on 29 September.

"[Grishenko is] a great fighter with a lot of experience in his wrestling background. So, it's going to be a really interesting one because it's going to be the first wrestler that I will fight. If I [want to] get the belt one day, I need to pass all the tests. So he's going to be a huge one, and I'm excited," Almeida said.

Watch all the action go down at ONE Fight Night 1: Moraes vs. Johnson live on Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports Select 2 starting with the lead card at 5:30 AM IST followed by the main card at 7:30 AM IST.

Source: Media Release