Stefer Rahardian looks to return to the winners’ circle in Jakarta

Stefer “The Lion” Rahardian wants to end his slump on October 25 at ONE: DAWN OF VALOR when he faces Adrian “Papua Badboy” Mattheis in Indonesia.

Rahardian is eager to bounce back against Mattheis after failing to get a victory in his last four outings. Mattheis, on the other hand, is a winner of four straight.

“The pressure I feel is more coming from my losing streak, not from his winning streak,” Rahardian said. “All I have been focusing is always doing better than my last fight, won or lost, I push myself in training camps to show my greatest performance.”

With his team at Bali MMA, “The Lion” is determined to piece together all the skills he possesses in order for him to snatch that elusive win.

“I feel that the reason for my losing skid is the experience,” Rahardian said.

“It really is not easy to combine skill, strength, and the mental aspect and put them together all at once. I have spent years for myself to learn to improve everything but being perfect takes time, so I keep spending more of my life to become a better fighter and the best version of myself.

“As I said before, I've been working on my skills, as well as strength, speed, power, and my mental game to be able to arrest my losing streak. I need everything to be improved and I need to keep working with my coaches and teammates here in Bali MMA.”

The chance to perform back home in Indonesia is a double-edged sword for Rahardian. He believes that he will be able to get the additional motivation from his fans but also worries about the level of performance he needs to give and the pressure he feels to perform.

“It is an up and down feeling to compete in front of my home country fans. I find it comfortable but there’s also a bit pressure at the same time,” Rahardian said. “I don’t feel it has any effect on my performance, I do my best to be focused on my fight when I am in the ring.”

Rahardian believes that his experience will trump Mattheis’ and his hard work will lead him back to the winners’ circle.

“There is always a bit of a qualm in facing everyone, whether Indonesian or not, there’s always the feeling of being both excited and pressured,” Rahardian concluded.

“We both have been there before, to face a fellow Indonesian in our own country, but I am ready for this. I've watched him fight, and I am sure he has done the same. We both also had a chance to fight the same guy in Himanshu Kaushik. I think he is a great fighter, everyone is. He is younger and full of energy, he can also entertain.

“He is strong but I can say that my experience is above him. I learned so much from the past and work hard every day to prove that I am always better than yesterday.”