On Friday, Apr. 22, ONE Championship: Eersel vs. Sadikovic will feature a key heavyweight mixed martial arts showdown between two of the most intriguing up-and-coming talents in the division. Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida will go toe-to-toe with “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium when ONE Championship returns to “The Lion City.”
Senegalese wrestling sensation Reug Reug has captured the attention of fans since he began his professional career, and he continued his captivating performances when he stepped inside the ONE Circle for the first time in Jan. 2021. Following his first-round debut victory over Alain Ngalani, Kane returned less than three months later to face Patrick Schmid, and he earned another win in the opening frame.
Reug Reug then looked to capitalize on his momentum and took a fight just three weeks later against Kirill Grishenko, but the Belarusian was victorious and handed him his first defeat. The 30-year-old star will have taken that loss as a lesson, though, and now he’ll try to apply what he’s learned against one of the greatest grapplers in history, Buchecha.
Like Kane, Buchecha garnered instant attention from the minute he stepped onto the global stage. And the multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion hasn’t disappointed so far, scoring two first-round submission wins over stellar competition in Anderson “Braddock” Silva and Kang Ji Won, respectively.
Buchecha has been honing his craft with American Top Team and is taking his time to blend striking in with his world-class ground game.
The stylistic clash will pose some of the biggest questions heading into the event on Apr. 22. Will Reug Reug utilize his wrestling against the Brazilian? And whose hands have improved the most between the hulking heavyweights?
With the division heating up, the winner of the bout could position themselves right in the thick of the title hunt for the remainder of 2022. It’s a high-stakes battle between two of the most interesting rising stars of the sport, and that makes it one that fans will not want to miss.
ONE Championship: Eersel vs. Sadikovic will air live on Friday, Apr. 22, beginning at 4:30 a.m. ET on the ONE Championship website.