BJJBET
The main fight of BJJBET is confirmed, an event that promises to shake the international scene of Jiu-Jitsu on September 6, in São Paulo. The card of 12 fights will have as its last duel the no-gi match between Marcus Buchecha and Fabrício Werdum.
Fabrício himself had revealed the fight after his submission at UFC Fight Island 3, in Abu Dhabi, last weekend, but only this week the organization officially confirmed the fight between the two beasts. Buchecha and Werdum, who are friends, have publicly revealed on other occasions their respect and admiration for each other, which differs greatly from the current picture of provocations on social networks.
To better understand how the fight between comrades will be, which promises to be explosive due to the level of competitiveness of both, GRACIEMAG talked to them, and the result you can see in the lines below.
A two-time world champion in the gi and two-time champion of the ADCC, Werdum comes to the fight with Buchecha riding the momentum of his beautiful victory over Alexander Gustafsson, in the UFC. With great wins in the cages using Jiu-Jitsu, with historic submissions over Emelianenko Fedor and Rodrigo Minotauro, for example, Werdum will be quite an opponent for Buchecha in the no-gi match. However, the MMA ace is aware of the dangers posed by the greatest champion of the Jiu-Jitsu Worlds.
“Buchecha is the best in the world,” said Werdum. “Gi champion, no-gi champion and now heading for MMA. He’s a guy who trains a lot, is dedicated a lot. Bucheca ‘has the courses’, for sure. But I love challenges, my entire career was made up of challenges. Now it’s about focusing on grappling. I’m coming from a great UFC camp, where I trained everything, such as grappling, wrestling, physical training and muay thai. Now it’s time to focus on the specific. Rubens Cobrinha and Romulo Barral help me a lot in Jiu-Jitsu, and I still think about hiring some sparring partners the size of Buchecha to train. We have a strategy outlined.”
Regarding the invitation to return to Jiu-Jitsu, Werdum showed excitement to perform in a great event such as BJJBET, whose mission is to revolutionize the competitive scenario.
“It will be a very cool event, it hasn’t even happened yet and it is already being talked about a lot. My friend, who is a member of the event, invited me and I was very happy. When I heard it was against Buchecha, I was even happier. The event sought out great fighters and is valuing these as they deserve, something very important. I want to do a great fight, to go down in history.”
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For Marcus Almeida Buchecha, who needs no introduction when it comes to grappling, BJJBET is an exciting project that he has followed from its inception. With the creation of the event and first steps in assembling the card, Checkmat’s top star promptly set out to fight.
“When one of the partners told me about the event, I was one of the first to get ready for the card. It will be a revolution for the sport. The way athletes are being and will continued to be treated by the event is just one of the highlights. I was sure that I wanted to be the first to be part of this endeavor,” said Buchecha.
Regarding the choice of his opponent, Buchecha said he was excited to face one of his idols in Jiu-Jitsu, since Werdum was one of the great champions who inspired him to get where he got in the sport.
“It was unexpected to have Werdum as an opponent offered for me to face,” revealed Buchecha. “I already said that a few times, that he is one of the guys I most admire in the sport. I started training Jiu-Jitsu around the time he had that remarkable final against Fernando Tererê, so he was a guy that I followed a lot in my career. After Jiu-Jitsu, I always saw his fights in MMA, and also in the occasional appearance without a gi, in ADCC and others. Werdum is the most successful guy in fighting sports; he was two times world champion by the IBJJF, two times champion of the ADCC, a champion of Strikeforce and UFC. Fighting a guy like that is awesome. Remember that he is my friend too, a guy who always gave me tips and introduced me to Mike Tyson, no less. I have a lot of respect for Werdum and it will be an honor to share the mat with him in this fight.”
To face Werdum, Buchecha has the challenge of finding a sparring partner to emulate the opponent’s style, filled with traps in the best old-school style. For Buchecha, the strategy will be to focus on his best attributes, but with caution about what Werdum can put into practice in the fight.
“The size, weight and experience of Werdum are a danger,” said Buchecha. “It is difficult to find someone to simulate these factors. But I am training the way I have always trained. Working hard, sharpening the aspects I have the advantage in — a lot of wrestling because the fight is without a gi. I will continue at this pace and prepare myself for any situation, whether the fight is fought more standing or on the ground, and whether I land on top or bottom. Ready for whatever comes. ”
