Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida gets new opponent for ONE Championship debut

It’s been a long road for Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida to finally make his mixed martial arts debut, and now he’s faced yet another hurdle.

Originally scheduled to face Thomas Narmo on Sept. 24, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappling legend will now face a different opponent but he’s still scheduled for the same date and location for the fight.

“Buchecha” will now meet Anderson “Braddock” Silva at ONE: Revolution on Sept. 24 with the event scheduled to take place in Singapore. The reason for the switch is unknown but ONE Championship officials confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday.

A 13-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and two time ADCC gold medalist, Almeida is considered one of the top grapplers to ever transition into MMA.

He inked an exclusive contract with ONE Championship to compete in MMA but his debut has been delayed several times with numerous rumored opponents along the way.

This latest switch will match him up against Silva, who is a noted kickboxer with past experience fighting for GLORY as well as his last five fights taking place in ONE Championship. This will be Silva’s first MMA bout since 2018 when he improved his record to 3-1 overall with a first-round knockout over Julio Cesar Lima in Brazil.

The upcoming ONE: Revolution card will be headlined by a lightweight title fight as reigning champion Christian Lee puts his belt on the line against Ok Rae Yoon, who is coming off a win over former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez in his last outing.