The long, strange trip of ‘Level’ Martinez
“I had this encounter with Jesus Christ. He told me I spared you for such a time as this either you come to me now or I’m going to take my hedge of protection off of you.”
UFC lightweight Conor McGregor calls himself ‘Notorious’ but Rene ‘Level’ Martinez really is. He co-founded Miami’s well, notorious criminal gang Latin Syndicate, and made living breaking into homes, stealing firearms, robbing drug dealers, and doing drive-by shootings.
Then his daughter was born, and Level decided to settle down and do something more conventional. He transitioned to bareknuckle boxing for Kimbo Slice, and moved on to mixed martial arts where he earned a 6-1-1 record.
And then he was born again.
“It was a really crazy life,” said ‘Level’ to CBN News. “I saw a lot of my friends die and I got like close to 50 dead friends and the rest of them are doing life in prison. I mean like I was involved in gangs ever since I was a little kid and I started gang banging in 1989 and I did it all the way til like 2011.”
“I was on a deathbed several times. I was in a coma at the age of 14. My whole life I was in and out of jail and just had so many close encounters with death and I never realized it was just God protecting me the whole time.”
“So my daughter was born and I was like man I gotta really like get my life together because all I ever did was rob drug dealers, that’s all I ever did and sold drugs. I was like man what am I going to do for my daughter? How am I going to provide for her?”
“I was always good at fighting. It’s like a gift I always had. So I started competing with Kimbo Slice. I built up such a name that Telemundo came and they did a Spanish documentary on me one day. And they followed me for a whole year. All the way til I became a professional fighter. Now mind you, while I’m fighting I’m still involved in gangs and all that. I’m still doing craziness. So I end up becoming a professional fighter. I traveled the world. I fought three time world champion Ricardo Mayorga.”
“One night I was writing lyrics, cause I used to do gangsta music too, and I had this encounter with Jesus Christ. He told me I spared you for such a time as this either you come to me now or I’m going to take my hedge of protection off of you.”
“I go in the projects. I preach to the gang bangers, prostitutes, drug dealers. I’ve gone places where people shoot up heroin in front of you and I go inside the prisons. I go in the juvenile prisons as well. This is what God told me to do. He said, ‘Go, go make disciples of all nations.’ God sent me back to those places where I came from.”
“I take the tub on top of my truck and I baptize them according to Acts 2:38 in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I do it right there in the projects.”
“The spirit of God draws the people in. It’s amazing what God does. You see people pulling out pistols, giving it to their friends and just going in that water and coming out just crying out to Jesus. It’s amazing.”
A documentary has been made about Level’s life called “The Warrior Level.” The warrior Level explains that churches are using it as an evangelistic tool and lives are being transformed.
“God is just moving through it,” he said.
