Indonesian standout Stefer Rahardian is in the mood to get back on the winning track in his homeland at ONE: CONQUEST OF HEROES on 22 September.
After achieving a remarkable nine-bout undefeated streak to start his professional mixed martial arts career, Rahardian went the distance with Rene “The Challenger” Catalan of the Philippines this past July, yielding to the multi-titled Wushu practitioner.
Over the course of three rounds, Catalan exhibited dynamic striking, feints, sweeping low leg kicks, and a powerful left hook that had Rahardian in trouble on multiple occasions.
In the end, all three judges scored the bout in favor of Catalan to win by unanimous decision.
His chance for redemption has arrived as Rahardian is booked to square off with China’s Peng Xue Wen in the co-main event of ONE: CONQUEST OF HEROES, which takes place at the Jakarta Convention Center in Indonesia.
Rahardian unashamedly expressed that he is determined to make sure he would not go through a similar experience like his last cage outing in ONE Championship.
“This is a great opportunity for me to redeem myself. My last performance, I wasn’t at my best, and I feel I wasn’t able to showcase what I can really do in there,” he said.
“Now, the focus has been on sharpening my talent and making sure I learn from my mistakes in my last bout,” Rahardian added.
The 31-year-old grappling wizard from Jakarta, Indonesia guarantees a better version of himself as he crosses paths with a Chinese National Greco-Roman Wrestling Silver Medalist like Peng, who notched an impressive 57-second stoppage victory at the expense of Eddey Kalai last July.
“Coming into this bout, I have a renewed confidence. I am training really hard. With the help of my teammates at Bali MMA, I am motivated to show the world that I am worthy to compete on an international stage like ONE Championship,” he stated.
“I have dreams of becoming a world champion in this wonderful sport someday, and I am coming and willing to work for it,” Rahardian continued.
Despite the jagged path to the upper echelon of ONE Championship’s talented 56.7-kilogram weight class, Rahardian is inspired to embrace the grind as he witnessed many celebrated world champions in history who had to endure a tumultuous period of uncertainty before they could reach the pinnacle of success.
“I will do my best and really show what I have. I will put my best foot forward because I have trained very hard for this fight,” he mentioned. “My defeat last July made me realize just how much more I had to improve so that I can become a better martial artist.”
Rahardian stressed that his hunger to take things into another level gives him the fresh perspective to persevere and push forward until he achieves his goal.
“In my next bout, I hope to show everyone that I will just keep getting better with experience. My goal here is to become one of the very best. I won’t let my countrymen, friends, family and teammates down this time around,” he vowed.
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