Marcus Buchecha

Marcus Almeida vs. Ryan Spann
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Almeida (-150); Spann (+125)

Round 1
From one all-time great grappler in Vieira to another in “Buchecha” Almeida (5-2-1, 0-1-1 UFC) we go. The big man from Brazil is still seeking his first UFC victory, and he will be given the opportunity to do so at the expense of massive ex-light heavyweight Spann (23-11, 9-6 UFC). The Texan once weighed 205 pounds, and he bulked up to a sleek, svelte 264 pounds for this one, or about 11 pounds higher than the established heavyweight he is battling now. To maintain control of the big fellas, referee Herb Dean may need maximum effort. Gloves are touched before they are traded.
Almeida slams a low kick home, which lands with a resounding thud. Spann bounces back and forth to swing a one-two, and Almeida pushes off his face as a finger scrapes Spann’s eye. Spann signals to Dean that he was fouled, and Dean tells him to fight on. From across the cage, Almeida sprints at Spann to take the fight down, and Spann counters with a brief guillotine choke before letting it go to scramble. With Almeida not quite taking the fight down, Spann hovers over him bludgeoning him with his fists. Almeida fights out of the worst of it and turns to his knees to power back to his feet, and he immediately searches for a level change. Almeida wrenches his foe to the floor, and Spann’s attempted guillotine falls apart seconds after he tries for it. Almeida threatens with an arm-triangle choke, and Spann pulls out of it and rips himself back up to his feet. Spann runs towards the cage to escape, not knowing if Almeida is hot on his heels, and he bounces off of it and takes a deep breath. Spann re-engages, and he pushes on the back of Almeida’s neck when Almeida pursues a takedown.
Spann drills his foe with an uppercut and controls Almeida to push him to his back for a moment, and when Almeida turns to his knees, Spann lets him flip over so he can knee him in the ribs. Spann backs away, and Almeida slowly lumbers his way back to his feet. Spann offers up a front kick on the jaw, and “Buchecha” drills his front leg with a kick that makes Spann take a very funny step. Almeida goes for a one-two to set up a double, and when Spann shoves him to the mat, the American turns to escape a sudden heel hook that came out of nowhere. Almeida scrambles to hunt for a takedown, and Spann uses a guillotine to threaten just long enough to bulldoze Almeida over. With Almeida on his knees, Spann connects with a strong knee to the side. Almeida pushes him off, and Spann stands up and just waits until the oddball round ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Spann
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Spann
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Spann

Round 2
A glove touch kicks off the round, both men breathing a big hard after a frenetic five-round stretch. Almeida pushes out with his fingers outstretched, and Spann complains about a poke as Dean calls time and issues a very hard warning to “Buchecha.” They resume shortly thereafter, with Spann standing in the pocket ready to throw hands. Before he can, Almeida once more leads with his fingers out, and Dean shows him how to close his fist. Almeida swings after the break, aiming for a takedown after it. Spann is wise to it and uses his guillotine to not threaten the actual submission but control the posture well enough to force Almeida to think about another angle. Almeida turns his way out of it and works his way back to his feet, as Spann does not want to chill out in the guard. On his feet again, Almeida prods out a solid jab.
Spann works around the jab, swinging all his might behind a left hook and a follow-up straight right hand that smash about as cleanly on the jaw as one can. Almeida crumples to this back, eyes staring off into space and not remotely ready to defend anything else as he is all done.
Dean rushes between them to make sure Spann is not about to batter his doomed opponent further. Spann knows his work here is done and proceeds to dance around the cage, as he has now become the first fighter in MMA to finish “Buchecha.”

The Official Result
Ryan Spann def. Marcus Almeida R2 2:10 via KO (Punches)

Marcus Almeida vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Nzechukwu (-130); Almeida (+110)

Round 1
There is only one more heavyweight fight tonight, and it is as quintessential “striker vs. grappler” as it gets. Former light heavyweight power puncher Nzechukwu (14-6, 8-6 UFC) would like nothing more than to shut the lights out of ex-One Championship fighter Almeida (5-2, 0-0 UFC). Submission specialist “Buchecha” has recorded all of his wins in Round 1 while his two losses came on the scorecards, and he will hope he does not earn a third defeat tonight. The third man in the cage for this clash that could go anywhere will be referee Herb Dean. The big men bump fists.
Almeida strikes first with a body kick, and he uses it to close in on the Fortis MMA fighter to pursue a single. Nzechukwu sees it coming from a mile away and hops to the side to stop it. They feint and fake at one another, with Nzechukwu staying extremely low expecting another shot. It comes, and “Buchecha” wrangles Nzechukwu to his knees and slips around to briefly take his back standing. Nzechukwu rolls over the moment that Almeida drops down to pursue a leglock, and he gets his leg far enough out so that he is not in danger. While waiting for Almeida to knock it off, Nzechukwu hammers the back of his thigh with powerful elbows. Nzechukwu bursts back to his feet by rushing towards the wall and walking up it, and Almeida clings to him from behind for a possible mat return. Almeida transitions from a double to a single and gets it, stepping right into half guard. Nzechukwu scoots back upright again, only for Almeida to chuck him back to the mat like a side of beef.
This time, Almeida takes his back, and he hooks up a partial body triangle but lets it go to maintain control when Nzechukwu starts to scramble. Nzechukwu crawls to the fencing and back upright, and he keeps himself afloat while Almeida wrestles him from behind. With Nzechukwu’s back to the wall, Almeida leans on him until Nzechukwu turns him around. Nzechukwu plants a knee square on the groin, clacking off the cup with an audible popping sound as Dean instantly calls time. Almeida wanders to a neutral corner and drops to a crouch, grimacing as he massages his sore groin. He stands back up and drapes his arms over the cage to try to get his wind back. Jostling his cup around, he is good to go after about a minute. Dean tells Nzechukwu to keep it clean, and they get back to business. Nzechukwu drives home a right hand around the guard, backing Almeida up but getting his lead leg grabbed in the single attempt from “Buchecha.” Nzechukwu hops around and manages to get out of it, and Almeida sells out for a sacrifice throw and falls to his back. Nzechukwu drops down on top of his foe to land hammerfists until Almeida is about to scramble, so Nzechukwu abandons ship and stands back up. Nzechukwu times a crisp knee on the jaw, and he starts laying into Almeida with power punches. The Fortis MMA-trained athlete drops Almeida with his punch combination and opens a cut on the cheek, and as he is battering the former One athlete, the round ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Nzechukwu
Dayne Fox scores the round: 10-9 Nzechukwu
Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Nzechukwu

Round 2
The fighters clap hands, but as soon as they do, Nzechukwu grabs his opponent’s hand and jacks him in the jaw with his other. Almeida backs off, and he suddenly shoots in for a takedown. As he ducks in to change levels, Nzechukwu inadvertently pokes him in one if not both eyes. “Buchecha” falls over to his back, and the commentary booth quizzically wonders whether he injured himself during the shot. The replay shows Nzechukwu’s fingers jamming into both of his opponent’s eyes, and he needs the doctor to come in so he can wipe his eye out with a cloth. Almeida is clearly compromised from it and none too thrilled by the foul, and he blows his nose in frustration. While Almeida recovers, Dean sighs heavily and brings Nzechukwu to the center of the cage to deduct a point. After three minutes pass, the round resumes with less than 30 seconds gone on the timer. Nzechukwu reintroduces himself with a clubbing left hand on the temple, and he goes for another but misses the mark. When he tries a third, Almeida changes levels to shoot in on his hips. Nzechukwu backs off to lean on the fence to keep his balance, and Almeida circles around from behind to hold on and possibly wrest him to the mat. Almeida breaks off, gets off a right hand and then falls over lobbing a kick. Nzechukwu races after him and starts bombarding him when Almeida stands, and Almeida topples over to his back. Nzechukwu signals for him to get back up, so Almeida answers him and sprints forward to tackle Nzechukwu to the floor. During the ensuing scramble, “Buchecha” secures back control, and this time he hooks up a low body triangle.
Rather than attack from the back, Almeida attempts to slither over to get mount, all while searching for an arm-triangle setup. He manages to get into full mount and starts hammering his opponent with elbows and powerful punches. Nzechukwu shells up to defend his face, but “Buchecha” is slowly pummeling him. Almeida chooses his strikes carefully rather than blowing out his gas tank going for broke, but this means that Dean just watches on as Nzechukwu blocks the worst of the strikes. The impact is still noteworthy, and Almeida picks up on volume and intensity as he tries to drum Nzechukwu out of there. Before gassing himself, he transitions to an armbar with seconds left in the round. He falls to his back to lock the limb lock down, but time expires before he can land it completely.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-8 Almeida
Dayne Fox scores the round: 10-8 Almeida
Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-8 Almeida

Round 3
To pick up where he left off, Almeida sells out almost immediately out of the gate for a takedown. He manages to get the fight down, but Nzechukwu is on top of him sitting on his chest. Almeida tries to get hold of Nzechukwu’s ankle for a possible sub, but there is nothing there while a 250-pound man sits on him uncomfortably. Nzechukwu threatens with his own unusual foot lock, but he realizes that he has limbs and can hit the grappler with his elbows. He lands a few, and then tries for his toe hold again before stepping into full mount. Nzechukwu puts his fingers in the fence but pulls them out and apologizes to Dean, who signals that Nzechukwu did not actually grab on it and just pushed off.
Nzechukwu is seated while Almeida has him from behind, and he gets away with a cheeky fence grab while Almeida is looking to get top control. Both men stand, and Almeida pulls guard and gets elbowed square in the face for his effort. Nzechukwu starts pummeling Almeida with strikes until Almeida grabs hold of Nzechukwu’s leg for a leglock of some kind. Nzechukwu pulls his leg out of danger and the two result in an uncomfortable, strange position where Almeida cannot swirl around to get on top because Nzechukwu has his arm hooked around Almeida’s elbow. Almeida rolls over, and Nzechukwu takes his back. Nzechukwu beats down on Almeida until the final horn sounds, and a draw is very much in play because of the point deduction in Round 2.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Nzechukwu (28-28)
Dayne Fox scores the round: 10-9 Nzechukwu (28-28)
Scottie Smith scores the round: 10-9 Almeida (29-27 Almeida)

The Official Result
Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Marcus Almeida is Scored a Unanimous Draw (28-28, 28-28, 28-28)

Martin Buday vs. Marcus Almeida
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Almeida (-210); Buday (+175)

Round 1
A couple weeks removed from the dramatic conclusion of the heavyweight decision streak, the promotion opens up its event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with big men kicking things off. The massive Buday (15-2, 6-1 UFC), who cuts a significant amount of weight to get to the 266-pound limit, will have some serious poundage in his favor when he faces Almeida (5-1, 0-0 UFC). The latter recently came over from One Championship, and he will be making a short-notice debut while looking to keep his 100% finish rate intact. The big fellas meet in the middle without a glove touch as referee Marc Goddard clocks them in, and it’s on with the show.
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Buday opts against the glove touch so he can sprint at his opponent, and he is quick to prepare himself to defend against the takedown. “Buchecha” tries for a single-leg takedown, and Buday’s sheer size allows him to squash Almeida and push him down to the mat. Buday backs off, smacks his foe’s lead leg a few times with kicks, and Goddard has the newcomer stand up. Buday jabs his way forward, and he stops another single in its tracks. Buday fights off a third by pushing Almeida to his back, landing a hammerfist or two before getting the heck out of dodge and not playing in the guard of the BJJ wiz. Goddard has Almeida stand up again, and the fighters both launch single punches at one another. Almeida scores an overhand right in an effort to set up a takedown, but he runs into a Slovakian stone wall once more.
Buday is unconcerned with the wrestling of his adversary, allowing him to open up with heavy punches including a right hand over the top that makes Almeida’s eyes go wide. Almeida shoots for a single, and Buday stops it with ease and dings his man with an uppercut. Almeida goes to the well with another single, and there is nothing to it as he gets clocked with a right hand on the break. Almeida wobbles back and tries to recover, even probing Buday with a right hand of his own, but Buday hits harder and more frequently. Buday gets right in Almeida’s face to slug with him, and Almeida wants nothing to do with mindless brawling. “Buchecha” circles around the outside to drive a knee to the midsection, and the two tie up and knee one another repeatedly. Almeida gets Buday’s attention while they trade, but his subsequent takedown is stood up without much effort. The round ends in the clinch.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Buday
Chris Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Buday
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Buday

Round 2
Buday ambles awkwardly out of his corner to engage without any interest in touching gloves, engaging quickly with the grappler with long punches and low kicks. Almeida bobs to fake takedowns, and Buday does not bite as he punches Almeida square in the face. His leg kick is starting to do some damage as well, as he mixes it in every so often. When “Buchecha” tosses out a naked front kick, he gets smacked with a right hand over the top. Almeida rushes forward for a single, and he decides to just tackle Buday to the floor without any further technique to it. He succeeds this time, where he lands in half guard and revs up his jitz engine. Almeida softens Buday up with punches and elbows to the midsection, and Buday holds onto Almeida’s face with both hands.
Buday keeps his hands on Almeida’s face to stop him from high-amplitude strikes or a submission setup, but Almeida still wants Buday’s left arm. Almeida grips hold of a two-on-one wrist lock to set up a kimura, but Buday twist and turns his way out of it. As Buday scrambles, he inadvertently gives up his back while on his knees, and Almeida pounces like a hungry animal to finish his hunt for his prey. Almeida opts to shell Buday on both sides of the head rather than going for a sub, and some of his blows land on the back of the head. Buday scoots his way to the fencing in hopes of standing, and he takes advantage of a mistake from the grappler by hurling Almeida to his back. Almeida appears to be fading fast, laying flat on his back taking deep breaths. Buday lays on top of him, hanging out in the guard away from submission danger so he can rattle off some ground-and-pound before the horn sounds.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Buday
Chris Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Almeida
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Almeida

Round 3
There is a glove touch between the heavyweights, and they start talking to one another. Buday reintroduces himself with punches and a calf kick, and Almeida has no immediate answer. Buday meanders forward, ignoring what comes his way so he can clip the newcomer with a right hand behind the ear. Almeida wobbles back, struggling to keep his composure, and Buday slowly walks him down and cracks him again with a left. Almeida shoots in for a takedown that is telegraphed, and he blows past his opponent. Buday loops a left hand up top, and it is one-and-done as he has to defend from a takedown. The Slovakian pushes his weight on the back of Almeida’s neck to hold him down, and he stops another shot and misses a knee by a matter of inches. Almeida is a dog with a bone looking for takedowns, but while the spirit is willing, the flesh is spongy and weak. Buday nails Almeida at any open opportunity when not shutting down the takedown, and he decides that it is time to wade into the guard at the midpoint of the round.
Buday lowers himself down and starts beating down the grappler with elbows, with Almeida nearly pulling guard to get him there. As Buday keeps striking, he gets a bit reckless and sits up, and this allows “Buchecha” to explode and swirl around to take Buday’s back. Buday turns, and in the process, Almeida gets both hooks in and secures back control. Buday flails and forces Almeida off of his back, allowing Almeida to stand up and hover behind him smacking him with short shots on the side of the head. Buday stands, and Almeida rolls to set up a crucifix but winds up on his back. Buday starts raining down Donkey Kong-esque punches while Almeida keeps his knee up as an additional blocking mechanism. The close, messy fight comes to a close as both big men fall to their back in exhaustion after three rounds of MMA without a stoppage.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Almeida (29-28 Buday)
Chris Laporte scores the round: 10-9 Almeida (29-28 Almeida)
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Almeida (29-28 Almeida)

The Official Result
Martin Buday def. Marcus Almeida via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)