Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Marcus Buchecha was shown that MMA needs multiple dimensions in his octagon debut at UFC Abu Dhabi.
The 13-time gold medalist and ADCC champion Buchecha had a lot of hype coming into his first UFC appearance, entering with a 5-1 record. Such was his standing in the grappling world, he was placed in the octagon with number 13 heavyweight Martin Buday, who has only lost once in the big leagues.
And Buchecha was given a rude awakening as he struggled on the feet and gassed out within a round-and-a-half en route to a difficult defeat. And fans on social media were brutal in response, dusting off the often overused ‘fraud check’ detector.
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Martin Buday defeats Marcus Buchecha at UFC Abu Dhabi
From the opening bell of UFC Abu Dhabi, it became clear that Buday’s plan was to pile on pressure on the feet. He immediately ran across the octagon and flew in with what was likely going to be a knee, albeit pulling it before actually throwing.
Buchecha’s grappling ability was certainly put on display at various points in the night, particularly in the second as he did a solid job getting the fight to the ground. He had been stuffed throughout the first, and was eventually successful.
However, in the third, Buday took control again as Buchecha appeared to be completely spent. For some reason, after the Brazilian took multiple opportunities to go to a knee, Buday decided to grapple with him in his own exhausted state towards the end of the bout.
Luckily, a late push from Buchecha wasn’t enough to undo Buday’s hard work and he ended the fight on top. All three judges had the fight 29-28 to the ranked heavyweight, who is now on a three-fight win streak.
Fans believe Marcus Buchecha was ‘fraud checked’ in UFC Abu Dhabi defeat
While it is always premature after just one underwhelming fight to call any fighter a ‘fraud’, it doesn’t stop social media users from being brutal in their assessments. And Buchecha received the brunt of it, with many fans branding Buday’s victory a ‘fraud check’.
“Marcus Buchecha is a FRAUD,” one enraged fan wrote. “Complete fraud. Show up for your first UFC event and gas out in 1.5 rounds…. Buchecha had his back for 2 mins and didn’t have 1 submission attempts? Completely FRAUD checked at UFC Abu Dhabi.”
Others were similarly critical, with one user saying he should “stick to BJJ” after being exposed in the cage.