That Was The Last Fight Of My Contract

Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida finished his contract with ONE Championship on a high note – with his impressive submission win over Amir Aliakbari in under four minutes at ONE 169 in Thailand.

And, well, Buchecha is already weighing his options and considering his next move:

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.

While he’s open to re-signing with ONE, he’s also interested in exploring other opportunities:

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.

As he approaches his 35th birthday early next year, Buchecha is prioritizing challenging opportunities over financial incentives:

The financial aspect is always interesting, of course.

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.