Regian Eersel was in the discussion for being the pound-for-pound best kickboxer on the planet. Then, at ONE Fight Night 21, he was upended by Alexis Nicolas by unanimous decision. After losing his winning streak and ONE Championship gold, “The Immortal” is primed to reclaim glory on Friday, October 4, at ONE Fight Night 25.
The Surinamese star has always been supremely confident. That has not changed after his loss to Nicolas. In fact, he seems even more bold by suggesting the new ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion is not a true fighter.
“I’m more disappointed that I lost to a guy like Alexis. He’s now the World Champion, but he’s not a fighter in his heart. In my way of thinking, he did good. He was smart. He does have my respect by way of intelligence because his strategy was good. But I saw that he’s not a real fighter. He came to fight, of course, but the small details, what I saw in his eyes and his body language, he was hurt, and he survived. I could say that he survived,” Eersel told ONE.
“The Immortal” stressed to ONE that he deserved an immediate rematch because the match was so close. Given his dominance during his reign, it was tough to argue against. With the bout signed, the Surinamese star is preparing to reclaim his title in highlight-reel fashion.
“I still believe I’m the best in the world in this division. To lose my streak was difficult, but it gives me the extra spark to show the world – and also to show myself and Alexis – that I’m the better fighter and that I’m the king of the division,” the former king stated.
While Eersel questions Nicolas’ fighting spirit, he is complimentary of how he took the title. “The Immortal” admitted that the early strategy of attacking his calves played an important role in the match’s outcome. The 31-year-old knew he was too late defending the attacks and was compromised for the rest of the title tilt.
“I started blocking too late and the damage was already done so I think that was the problem of the fight for me. In the second round, I got knocked down. I was pressuring him a lot. He caught me with the right hook. The moment I got hit, I was going to my ankle. I fell down. I thought, ‘I’ll stand up quickly and we will continue to fight,’ but the referee started counting. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m not going to protest, I got hit,’ but it was not like I was dizzy or something like that,” Eersel commented.
Since the loss, Eersel has been fired up to wear gold again. The talented striker has addressed the things that went wrong the first go around and feels reinvigorated to take back the throne on Friday. At ONE Fight Night 25, Eersel plans to be more cerebral and beat Nicolas at his own game.
“I’ve learned from this loss. I got my hunger back. After staying on top so many years, you lose a little bit of fire. And I noticed it in the fight when I was hurting him and he was running away, I had the extra fire to go through the pain and put more and more pressure on him. So I learned I have more fire inside of me, and I learned I have to think and be smarter than him in the next fight,” Eersel said.
ONE Fight Night 25 airs live on Friday, October 4, from Bangkok. The action begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Prime Video. The event is free for all Amazon Prime subscribers based in the U.S. and Canada.
