Marcus Almeida and the Art of Biding One’s Time

A shot at the One Championship heavyweight title certainly seems to be within reach for Marcus Almeida, who has made a seamless transition to mixed martial arts. The two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championship gold medalist owns a 4-0 record in ONE but remains true to his slow-and-steady-wins-the-race approach.

Reigning ONE heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin can rest easy—for now.

“I don’t think about it,” Almeida told Sherdog.com. “I go and do my job and take it one day at a time. I don’t like to think too far ahead. There’s time. When my time comes to fight for the belt, it will happen naturally on its own time. Right now, I’m looking to fight, gain experience and evolve every day.”

The 33-year-old Brazilian draws his next assignment at ONE on Prime Video 13, where he confronts Senegalese wrestling legend Oumar Kane this Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Kane, 31, enters the match on the strength of back-to-back victories over Batradz Gazzaev and Jasur Mirzamukhamedov. Almeida has prepared for “Reug Reug” on more than one occasion.

“This fight was canceled a few times on account of something at his end,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened, if he was injured, but he dropped out twice. It’s actually one of the reasons my ONE debut was delayed. Thankfully, I was able to face other opponents. Since the organization really wants to see this fight happen, it’s going to happen now.

“It’s an appealing challenge between styles,” Almeida added. “He’s very tough and strong, with heavy hands and good takedown defense. It’s going to be very interesting. I can hardly wait. Of course, I expect to use my jiu-jitsu to get the fight to the mat and land another submission. If all goes well, I’d like to fight one more time this year.”

As has become his custom, “Buchecha” spent his training camp at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. There, an all-star cast of coaches—Katel Kubis, Steve Mocco, Ivan de Oliveira, Leo Vieira and Marcus “Conan” Silveira, along with Luciano dos Santos, Gabriel de Oliveira, Muhammed Lawal, Diego Lacerda and Marcos da Matta—oversaw Almeida’s day-to-day efforts in the gym and helped devise a gameplan for the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Kane.

“It’s where I’ve done all my camps and where I evolve every day,” he said. “It’s been an incredible preparation. Without them, I wouldn’t have gotten this far.”