A victorious Simon Marcus (photo via James Law / GLORY)

By Kelsey Mowatt

Simon Marcus is GLORY’s new middleweight champ, and although the title came to him via bizarre circumstances, “Bad Bwoy” is proud about the victory nonetheless.

Marcus faced Artem Levin for a third time at GLORY 27 on February 26th. The bout was booked after the middleweight titans fought to a draw at GLORY 21 last May. Back in 2013, Marcus earned a decision win over Levin, when the two battled under the Lion Fight banner.

In their most recent encounter, Levin was warned for clinching early on, and in round two, he had a point deducted for doing so. The Russian star was visibly upset with the referee’s decision, and even turned his back on Marcus as the fight was resuming. Then in round three, Levin had another point deducted for clinching, and this time, he waved off the fight. It was a strange and controversial end to a bout that was highly anticipated throughout the kickboxing world.

Recently Marcus appeared on Full Contact Fighter Radio, and he was asked how he feels about the victory, considering how it ended.

“No, I feel great about the win to be honest,” said Marcus. “There’s a difference from a fan perspective and from a fighter perspective, from a martial artist perspective. I believe that anybody who understands fighting, who is a fighter or a martial artist, can see more clearly what took place in the ring. It wasn’t a thing where, some people are saying the referee was the one who decided the fight, but that’s not true.”

“There’s been people saying that we were both stepping into the clinch, we were both clinching, but that Artem was the only one being penalized. But first you have to take a look at the rule setting,” added Marcus. “Clinching is legal, so there isn’t anything wrong with clinching. But there’s a difference between what’s considered clinching and what’s considered holding. When I’m stepping into the clinch I’m looking to work with my knees, effective striking, and let go. I’m trying to break, I’m trying to continue the fight. Where Levin, when he steps in for the clinch, he wants to hit you and basically hold on until the ref says break. We were all given a clear outline before the fight that wouldn’t be acceptable…”

The referee’s decision to take a second point has certainly been criticized by Levin supporters and others, but Marcus maintains the former champ was heading to defeat, either way.

“His options were stop holding, and fight, which he didn’t want to do. I would have knocked him out, over the period of him getting tired and trading with me,” Marcus argued. “Second option was to continue holding and get disqualified, and the third was to kind of give up and blame it on the ref, and that’s the one he chose. So, either each way, I’m fine with the win…”

With the win, the record of Marcus now stands at 43-2-2. Levin’s fell to 89-8-2.