Martin Buday gave grappling champion Marcus Buchecha a rude welcome to the octagon after beating the former ONE Championship heavyweight by unanimous decision to kick off the UFC Abu Dhabi card on Saturday.
While it was anything but a pretty performance, Buday largely shut down Buchecha’s grappling attempts but even when the fight hit the floor, he never really found himself in any serious danger. On the feet, Buday battered Buchecha with punches while also making sure to never overextend himself to potentially
give up the takedown.
When it was over, all three judges had it 29-28 for Buday, who secure his third win in a row overall.
It didn’t take long once the fight started for Buchecha to shoot for a takedown as he grabbed onto a leg and attempted to drag Buday to the ground but he got stuffed almost immediately. Buchecha continued to try for that same takedown but Buday was more than ready to counter him.
After stopping some early takedowns, Buday started showing some confidence in his hands as he cracked Buchecha a couple of times while also throwing a slick knee up the middle. With his grappling coming up short, Buchecha finally started winging punches and he actually caught Buday with some stiff shots as the heavyweights continued trading on the feet.
Finally at the start of the second round, Buchecha got deep on Buday with a takedown and brought the fight to the canvas. Buchecha was methodical in his attack before looking for the kimura and then taking Buday’s back in a scramble.
When he couldn’t find a home for a submission, Buchecha began hammering away with punches but Buday not only survived but he actually reversed positions to end up on top as time ticked away in the round.
With five minutes remaining, Buday opened up with a solid combination that rattled Buchecha as the Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion looked like he was running low on gas. Buday continued to pepper Buchecha, who looked labored on his feet but did manage to reverse the position to then grab on the back to begin looking for submissions.
Buday eventually slipped free and he began throwing some ground and pound just as time expired.
While far from a memorable outing, Buday did exactly what he needed to do to counter Buchecha’s grappling and ultimately beat him on the feet. As for Buchecha, his long layoff awaiting free agency didn’t exactly payoff with a lackluster performance in his UFC debut.
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