Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu icon turned burgeoning MMA star Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida is happy to make steady progress towards the top of ONE Championship’s heavyweight division.

But with three wins from three outings at the Singapore-based promotion, the grappling legend’s name is already being mentioned in the World Title conversation.

Should he triumph against former ONE World Championship challenger Kirill Grishenko at ONE on Prime Video 1 on August 26, his dream to contest for the heavyweight gold could soon become a reality.

However, “Buchecha” isn’t looking that far into the future just yet. Instead, the American Top Team and Evolve MMA athlete wants to focus solely on his upcoming opponent, who he views as a step in the right direction for his development as a mixed martial artist.

“[Grishenko is] a great fighter with a lot of experience in his wrestling background. So, it’s going to be a really interesting one, because it’s going to be the first wrestler that I will fight,” the 32-year-old star said.

“If I [want to] get the belt one day, I need to pass all the tests. So he’s going to be a huge one, and I’m excited.”

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The 17-time BJJ World Champion’s slow and steady approach to his MMA journey has paid dividends for him so far.

Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida believes Kirill Grishenko is a tough task

A fighter with three first-round finishes from as many fights might be forgiven for starting to concoct an ego, but “Buchecha” has stayed grounded through his success.

That said, he does see the views of the small fraction of fans who believe he’ll succumb to Grishenko’s power as far-fetched.

“It’s a huge step up. But I don’t like to think like that. When I made my debut in ONE, Kirill was doing his debut at the same time. So, we had the same amount of time in the house, right?” Almeida said.

“He has three fights in ONE. I got three, going for my fourth one. Before that, he didn’t have much experience in MMA, so I think it’s fair.”

A victory would establish the grappling legend as a legitimate threat in the ever-expanding heavyweight division.

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It could also, hypothetically, make him the next man in line to clash for the ONE Heavyweight World Title once divisional king Arjan “Singh” Bhullar and interim champion Anatoly “Sladkiy” Malykhin unify the divisional belts.