Marcus Buchecha is one of the hottest free agents in all mixed martial arts after tapping out Amir Aliakbari in under four minutes at this past Friday’s ONE 169 in Thailand. He completed his deal with the Asian promotion on a high, and now he wants biggest challenges.
The 13-time jiu-jitsu world champion is now 5-1 in MMA with a 100 percent finishing rate and could have a chance to avenge his sole loss in thew sport against “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane, who captured the ONE heavyweight title on the same night, but he’s still unsure on what his next move will be.
“That was the last fight of my contract, and now I’m free, I can do anything I want,” Buchecha said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “I’m already talking to my manager Ali Abdelaziz and we will make that decision. I don’t have anything decided just yet, but we’re already talking and deciding the next steps. I really don’t know what will happen, but things are way different now compared to last week. I was coming off a loss, and now I’m coming off a good win, so I’m in a better position now to make a decision.”
Buchecha said Abdelaziz is already “in conversations with a lot of people” regarding his future, but a decision hasn’t been made.
“He’s doing his job,” Buchecha said. “I think his phone is probably ringing right now, people are reaching out to him.”
Buchecha openly complained of lack of offers for over a year before his clash with Aliakbari was made for Nov. 8, but said he won’t close doors on possibly re-signing with the organization.
“To be honest with you, I want to talk to everybody,” Buchecha said. “If [ONE] wants to have a conversation with me, we will talk, but I don’t know what I want to do yet, you know? I had six fights with ONE, my entire MMA career was at ONE, so I honestly want to think about the next step of my career with calm.”
All of Buchecha’s MMA wins came via first-round finish with four submissions and one TKO stoppage, adding to his combat sports legacy. In the grappling world, the American Top Team heavyweight has won two ADCC gold medals and six IBJJF absolute world championship titles, plus seven titles in his weight class.
About to turn 35 years old early next year, Buchecha said his decision will be based on “challenge,” not money.
“The financial aspect is always interesting, of course,” Buchecha said. “But if there’s something I don’t want to do or organization I don’t want to sign with, no money in the world would convince me to sign. I have my values and my principles, and if I have grudges with an organization or something like that, and I don’t want to sign [with them], money won’t be a reason for me to sign.”
“I’m driven by challenges,” he continued. “Many people told me during fight week that I’ve won 13 world titles [in jiu-jitsu] and didn’t need to be fighting MMA, but I’m still here, fighting. I want new challenges, I want to test myself more and more. I’m not getting any younger, so I have to do it sooner than later. I don’t want to waste any more time on the sidelines, because I’m not young anymore.”
