Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida is preparing for a striving for the UFC Gold of Tom Aspinall, but he had not always convinced that it will be on this point.
Almeida had his UFC sign drawing confirm at the beginning of July, with the man MMA's best heavyweight grappler on a large scale became a free agent after leaving one championship.
Almeida joined one in 2020 until one after he had settled as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu of all time with an all-time from several world Jiu-Jitsu and ADCC Submission Fighting Championship Triumphs.
But although things started smoothly for the 35-year-old, he quickly found himself on the sidelines and wondered if his MMA career ended prematurely.
Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida almost retired in the midst of struggles in one before 'Dream' UFC Move
During a recent interview with MMA fights, 'Buchecha' responded to the “dream” movement to the UFC and thought about the struggles that came before.
After changing the BJJ mats in front of the cage, Almeida won five of his six fights in one. His last outing in the top promotion of Asia was in November 2024, when Almeida Amir Aliakbari defeated a rear choke entry.
While that result saw that Almeida immediately recovered from his loss and then can then reinforce a heavyweight champion Oudmar 'Ray back' Kane ', as many MMA hunters in one, his ambitions were stuck by forced inactivity and a lack of fighting offers.
And it got so bad that the Brazilian gripping legs could not see light at the end of the tunnel and even thought he was hanging on his gloves.
“It was difficult to get out of that contract, but we did it. I went there and was a man (of my word), signed a contract with six fights and did all my six fights and left through the front door. But now, I am free,” said Almeida.
“I am excited to fight. It has been a while since I started a fight without all that stress in the backstage. Many people only see what happens when you get in the ring or cage and fight, but a lot happens behind the scenes. It is bad for the mental health of the athlete.
“It happened to me many times to retire because I couldn't take it anymore, that killed me inside,” Almeida continued. “Don't fight and can't fight. If you have such a contract, not just with that organization, if you can't even fight in other sports.
“Imagine in this case that I was unable not to even compete in Jiu-Jitsu. That was something that bothered me a lot. But thank goodness it was over. It was pretty stressful, but now (I am) free and ready for the new challenges … Signing with the UFC was my desire and dream.”
Marcus Almeida did not have to wait long for his UFC debut
Although Almeida perhaps has passed a long and frustrating stint on the sidelines under one banner, the Brazilian immediately announced his debut when signing at the UFC.
'Buchecha' will have its first step in the direction of heavyweight gold from the promotion in the middle this month, when Almeida makes his debut against Martin Buday on the UFC Abu Dhabi card.
The Slovak heavyweight has won its last two fights to bring his overall Octagon record to 6-1. His only UFC defeat came at the end of 2023 against one-time headliner Shamil Gaziev.
The victory of Gaziev on Buday pushed him in a sudden chance of the main event against a ranked competition, so Almeida will hope in a similar path on the way to champion Tom Aspinall by having his hand rise in Etihad Arena on July 26.