Pereira: “I will be back stronger, faster, wiser - and I will beat Levin”

Alex “Po Atan” Pereira (14-2, 9 KO’s) was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the eight-man Middleweight Championship Tournament at GLORY LAST MAN STANDING by the #1-ranked Artem ‘The Lion’ Levin (50-4-1, 33 KO’s).

Like many before him, Pereira found Levin’s style and trickery to be unlike anything he had ever encountered.

He had some good moments - Levin said afterwards Pereira did hurt him several times - but his rhythm and timing were so thrown off that he wasn’t able to replicate the performances, which won him the Middleweight Contender Tournament at GLORY 14 ZAGREB in March.

“It’s true, I didn’t fight at my best. Mainly because of Artem’s style, I did not expect this kind of game, with a lot of clinching and moving around in unorthodox ways,” Pereira says.

“I know my style is also unorthodox and maybe in a rematch we can give the public an exceptional fight, I think he would want that too.

“But it made me very pleased to hear some compliments from my toughest opponent, and also the undeniable #1 fighter of the number one organization in the world, about my power.

“I did sense that he felt threatened by my strikes, so he didn’t want to let me continue playing my game.”

Pereira, now back in his native Brazil, has had time to think about Levin and just what it is that makes him so hard for opponents to deal with.

“I think that what makes him so difficult is most of all his experience inside the ring. Technique-wise, it’s because he’s moving and striking in unorthodox and unexpected ways,” he says.

“Of course there’s also his clinching… but I don’t think that’s necessarily a quality, not in kickboxing.”

The loss was Pereira’s first in GLORY - he is now 2-1 in the organization - but it has not dismayed him. On the contrary, it has only strengthened his resolve to reach the peak of his abilities. He has gone back to Brazil with a lot of things to work on.

“Now I have to learn about dealing with other fighting styles and of course embed some elements of them into my own style,” he says.

“I’m still new in the sport. This guys are fighting for like 10 years and I’m only in my 4th, but I know I’m gonna be the best.

“In the future I will look back on this loss and say that it was good for me as a fighter. Each loss in the past forced me to evolve, because it’s harder to evolve inside your comfort zone. Now I know about some more things I have to improve, and I will - I’m already doing it.

“What would you do differently in a rematch with Levin? I would win the fight. You’ll see it, next fight I'll come back stronger, wiser, faster and, most of all, more mature.”