The Berimbolo Kid's Match of the Week - Week 33 - Claudio Calasans vs. Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida - 2011 CBJJE Pan Ams

(The previous edition can be found HERE)

Welcome to another edition of Match of the Week! This week's match is Claudio Calasans vs. Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida from the 2011 CBJJE Pan Ams. 

Claudio Calasans is a black belt under Erivaldo Junior and fights for Team Atos. Claudio is one of top grapplers in the very competitive middleweight division. Besides this, Claudio also holds a black belt in Judo and was once part of the Brazilian National Wrestling Team. 

Throughout his time competing in the black belt division, Claudio has done very well, taking gold in numerous prestigious competitions. He is a four time Abu Dhabi Pro Champion (2012, 2011, 2010 weight & absolute), a three time European Champion (2014, 2013, 2011), and a two time Pan American (2012, 2011) and Asian Open Champion (2014 weight & absolute). He is also a one-time CBJJE World (2008) and Brazilian ADCC Trails Champion (2011). 

Claudio Calasans is well known for using his Judo background in Jiu-Jitsu. You will commonly see Claudio kick the match off with a throw, trip or takedown. He is very dangerous off is back also, especially from the closed guard. Here he likes to execute one of his favourite submissions, the wrist lock, a very painful and underutilised submission. 

Claudio Calasans

Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Rodrigo Cavaca and fights for Checkmat. Since his late teens, Buchecha has been seen by many as the next big star in BJJ. He has more than lived up to that, and has gone on to win his weight division and absolute division three years in a row (2012, 2013, and 2014) at the World Championships. As of today, Buchecha is the number one black belt in the world under the IBJJF rankings. 

Being the number one ranked black belt in the world, it's not hard to imagine that Buchecha has won his fair share of medals throughout his time in competition. He is a six time World Champion (2012 weight and absolute, 2013 weight and absolute, and 2014 weight and absolute), a four time WPJJ (2012, 2013 absolute, 2014 weight and absolute) and Pan American Champion (2011, 2012, 2013 weight and absolute), and a one time ADCC Champion (2013).

One thing which is surprising about Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida is his speed for such a big guy. He is so fast and explosive. You will often see him start off a match with a take down, typically a double or single leg. From there, he quickly passes the guard and transitions to a dominant position which is usually the back. It not to say that he's afraid to pull guard either. He is just as dangerous and explosive off his back as he is on top. 

Marcus "Buchecha" Almeida
Source: Mike Calimbus

So many exciting moments in this match to count! Just constant action all the way through. Even though at this point, Buchecha was a relatively new black belt, he puts in an incredible performance against an experienced competitor. It truly is a great match!

The video of the match can be found below! I hope you guys enjoy!

See you next week!

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