Levi Rigters ready to make a statement at GLORY 103

Levi Rigters (19-3, 9 KOs) will face Jamal Ben Saddik (38-10, 29 KOs) in the main event of tonight's GLORY 103 live on DAZN PPV.

This a fight between two former heavyweight title contenders with Rigters coming into this contest on the back of a unanimous decision loss to Rico Verhoeven last December. 

Ahead of the opening bell, Rigters spoke to DAZN News about the challenge that awaits him tonight.

DAZN News: You faced Jamal Ben Saddik. How was the face-off?

Levi Rigters: It was the first face-off. He's ready. He believes in himself, the same as me. So I think it's going to be a great fight.

DN: What do you think of him?

LV: He's been in the game for a long time. Top of Glory in the top three for a long time. I was looking at him when I was an amateur fighter still. And now, I’m the one in the top. So I want to prove against the best guys. So I just came from a fight with Rico, and now I'm facing another top fighter.

DN: Any prediction?

LV: My prediction is to win the fight. I really believe in myself. I believe in the camp I've had, the people around me. So I'm in really good shape mentally and physically. So my hand's getting raised.

DN: Your last fight was a loss against Rico. How did you come back from that?

LV: It was painful, of course. It was a fight I've been working for more than 10 years, and then you lose the fight. So it was painful. I took some time off, some time to come back, and that did me really good. Sometimes you need those moments to grow and to become better and more mature, and that's what happened.

DN: You fought him two times and you lost two times. Can you fight him one more time?

LV: Of course. I still really want to fight him and win the belt from him. But like you said, I fought him twice, lost twice. So I really need to prove myself. And I feel like this tournament is maybe the only way to prove myself to get another title shot against him.

DN: What did you learn from your defeat against him?

LV: That everything needs to be better, physically, mentally, and I have to focus more on the task I have before me. Before, I was really focusing only on the Rico fight. I wanted to become a champion. And now I'm really focused more in the moment, so focusing on my training, focusing on my camp right now, focusing on this fight. And in the back of my head, I really want to fight Rico, but now the focus is on this moment and this fight.

DN: There are 16 guys for two places in the final in December. Who are the two favorites for you?

LV: So I think me, I think Rade Opacic. I think because we are the most complete fighters. So we can adapt, we can do everything. Yeah, that's it.

DN: If you go to the final in December, do you think that you can go in the end? 

LV: Of course. The eight best heavyweights will be there. So like I said, we need to win this tournament. So for me, it's really important. But that's the thing with tournaments. Anything can happen. And that's what makes it so nice.

DN: What did you think of the Glory 100? Who was the heavyweight who impressed you the most?

LV: When I think about that night, I think about the Mory Bahram fight, of course. That was one of the craziest fights I've seen at Glory. So Mory, of course. And then Bouzid, I didn't really know him yet, but he did really, really well. I think those guys.

DN: Jamal comes from an injury to the chin. Do you think that he's good or it can he play on your side? 

LV: Of course. I don't know how the injury is right now, but I think he got a great team around him. He got a great trainer. So I think even if he has pain still, they will have another game plan built around the injury.