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Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida and Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane put on one of the wildest fights you will ever see at ONE Fight Night 13 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The heavyweight matchup was one of the standout fights ahead of the weekend’s ONE Championship card thanks to both fighter's respective grappling credentials. Almeida is a multiple-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, while Kane previously made a name for himself as a “lutte avec frappe” wrestling champion in his native Senegal.
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“Buchecha” entered ONE Fight Night 13 as a sizeable favorite after starting his MMA career with four first-round victories, but the Brazilian quickly found himself struggling with Kane’s pressure in the opening round.
Things only got wilder as the fight carried on, with both men engaging in some amazing grappling and striking exchanges while referee Herb Dean also got himself involved in the proceedings on more than one occasion.
When the fight finally went the distance it looked as if “Reug Reug” may come up short on the scorecards after receiving a yellow card, but ultimately the judges awarded the Senegalese fighter a unanimous decision victory.
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Kane has now won three fights in a row, while Almeida falls to 4-1 in an MMA career that has seen him compete exclusively for ONE Championship. “Buchecha” made short work of all his previous MMA opponents, and he was famously mentioned by ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong as a potential challenge for Francis Ngannou when the promotion was courting the former UFC champion.
This was the third time the heavyweights had been booked to meet in ONE Championship but the first time the fight actually went ahead, and fans will likely be clamoring to see the two men rematch at some point in the future.
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