Levi Rigters stands just a fight away from a title shot against reigning GLORY Champion Rico Verhoeven. “I want to become the champion before I’m 28,” Rigters tells MMA Sucka. At GLORY 80 Rigters will be facing a fellow top 5 ranked heavyweight Jamal Ben Saddik. And after that, his life is about to change as he has twin boys due. 2022 could be a massive year for the heavyweight kickboxing star. Levi Rigters sits down with Tim Wheaton of MMA Sucka. See the full interview below.
Levi Rigters Talks GLORY 80 – “I Want to Become the Champion,” Fight with Ben Saddik and more
Levi Rigters on Kickboxing
“My brother,” He says was his biggest inspiration in kickboxing, “He was kickboxing before me, and one day he literally pulled me off the couch into the gym. And I never ever stopped.” Rigters right now is living in the gym alongside training partners such as Jay Overmeer to get both ready for GLORY 80. Overmeer told MMA Sucka that Rigters is ready to shock the world on March 19.
“He’s a big guy. The biggest guy I fought,” Ahead of the towering 2 m (6 ft 6 in) heavyweight Rigters is an even taller opponent of 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in), of Jamal Ben Saddik. “The heaviest guy, probably, the hardest-hitting opponent. We have to fight smart,” Rigters told MMA Sucka, “He has a lot of weaknesses too. And we have to use those weaknesses to our favor.”
Since entering the sport Rigters has found much success. He was the Super Heavyweight champion in Enfusion then found success in GLORY when he won a one-night Grand Prix to become the 2020 Glory Heavyweight Tournament Winner. Afterward, he faced a tough close decision loss to Tarik Khbabez.
“Against Tarik when I lost the fight I was not mentally in it,” Rigters said, “Now I do things like meditation, focusing on my breathing techniques, getting a mental coach, and that’s only for me in the last year. I’m still learning a lot of new things. And that’s why I said sometimes you have to fail to learn things like that.” Since his loss to Khbabez, he has a victory in his most recent bout against Tomas Mozny via leg kick TKO.
This year, Rigters is looking to defeat Ben Saddik, have twins, then fight for a title. An extremely busy year for the man in GLORY Kickboxing. And what does he plan to do with his new busy schedule going forward? “I have a dream to help,” He said, “A lot of people who just need an extra push in the right direction, like the youth. I will use the sports to motivate them and help them a little bit. That would be something I will focus on more in the future… I think kickboxing, I learned a lot in this sport, and I think I can use it for those people.”
