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UFC signs One Championship star who fans are calling MMA’s ‘best heavyweight grappler’

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow
By Christopher De Santiago | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 11:27 PM ET

A potential contender has entered the UFC heavyweight division.

It’s an intriguing time for the heavyweights as Jon Jones is no longer the champion after two years. With Jones’ official retirement from MMA, interim titleholder Tom Aspinall has been promoted to the new undisputed champion of the world.

Aspinall has quite a few options for his title defense, such as Ciryl Gane, Alexander Volkov, and Jailton Almeida.

Amid talk on who’s next for the title and Jones potentially coming back, the UFC has added a talented prospect to the weight class.

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida to make UFC debut in Abu Dhabi

Grappling star Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida is the UFC’s latest signing.

The former ONE Championship fighter has a 5-1 record as a pro and is a 17-time BJJ world champion. Almeida is coming off a first-round submission win over former Greco-Roman wrestling champion Amir Aliakbari at ONE 169 last November.

At 35, Almeida’s only MMA loss is to current ONE heavyweight champion Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane.

Revered as the ‘best heavyweight grappler in MMA’, Almeida is set to make his promotional debut against Martin Buday on July 26 at UFC Abu Dhabi, according to a report from Bert MMA.

Almeida’s first UFC opponent Buday is 15-2 with a 6-1 record in the UFC. Buday is coming off back-to-back wins over Uran Satybaldiev and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

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UFC Abu Dhabi might be the best Fight Night of the year

Marcus Buchecha joins a stacked lineup at UFC Abu Dhabi.

The main event pits former UFC champion Robert Whittaker against former two-division ONE champion Reinier de Ridder across five rounds or less.

The co-headliner is a likely title eliminator in the featherweight division as the undefeated Movsar Evloev welcomes blue-chip Bellator star Aaron Pico to the UFC.

Former champion Petr Yan also returns to Abu Dhabi when he fights down the ladder against the #13-ranked Marcus McGhee.

That’s not all, as featherweight Bryce Mitchell will make his bantamweight debut against Said Nurmagomedov and the 15-1 Shara Magomedov is set for his return against Marc-André Barriault.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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