In a shocking upset, Alexis Nicolas ended the incredible unbeaten run of Regian Eersel to capture the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship at ONE Fight Night 21.
That loss has eaten away at “The Immortal” ever since. While respecting Nicolas for the win, Eersel remains unconvinced that the newly minted king is worthy of the throne and plans to take it back at ONE Fight Night 25 on Friday, October 4.
“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,” Eersel said to ONE.
“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 petitioned for an immediate rematch. While he earned one simply from his long, dominant reign, how close the match was for the Surinamese striker plagued his thoughts.
“I asked for an immediate rematch because I rewatched the fight with my team and we came to the conclusion that we have to do it again. You cannot win against a champion like that with only a one point difference. And that’s why we asked for the rematch,” the former champion remarked.
“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.”
In reflecting upon the first meeting, Eersel noted that the strategy to attack his calves was one of the biggest factors in the matchup.
Nicolas scored an early knockdown in the match. Still, the damaging low kicks helped put him out in front and take away some of the Surinamese star’s movement and power.
“The first round he got me good with the calf kicks. That was a surprise for me. But I was feeling okay. When I felt this power, I was like, ‘I can handle this.’ The only thing was the calf kicks because I never felt that pain before,” Eersel remarked.
“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.”
Motivated by the loss, Eersel is promising a return to form. If he can capture the magic that led him to the top of the division, a main event barnburner is in store for fans on October 4.
“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,” Eersel said.
“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.”
ONE Fight Night 25 airs live and free on Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Friday, October 4, for all Amazon Prime members based in the U.S. and Canada.