Even with his eight-year winning streak snapped, Regian “The Immortal” Eersel still feels he’s the best lightweight striker on the planet.
The 31-year-old lost his ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title to Alexis “Barboza” Nicolas last time out, but he’s ready to gain redemption in their U.S. primetime rematch at ONE Fight Night 25 on Prime Video on Friday, October 4.
Nicolas shocked the world when he dethroned Eersel back in April and ended “The Immortal’s” unbeaten run in ONE Championship – and that still stings for the Surinamese striker as he believes his rival is not on the same level.
However, the only way Eersel can back up his assertion is by reclaiming the gold at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
He told onefc.com:
“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.”
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Nicolas started strong in their first encounter, scoring with solid low kicks in the first round and then dropping Eersel for an eight-count in the second.
“The Immortal” stayed true to his moniker after that and came on strong in the remaining rounds, chasing “Barboza” down to try to win the match.
Nicolas got the nod by a fine margin thanks to his knockdown, but that wasn’t enough to convince Eersel that the Frenchman was superior:
“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.
“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.”
Eersel Taking Lessons From Nicolas Defeat Into Rematch
Still the ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Champion, Regian Eersel wants to get his kickboxing gold back to become the undisputed king of the weight class once again.
To do that, he’s had to accept accountability for his mistakes last April 5 – work he started that very same night by reviewing his performance as soon as he got back to his hotel room.
Reflecting on his errors in the defeat, Eersel said:
“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.
“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.”
Since then, Eersel has been working on fine-tuning his game to make sure that he’s in the best position to reclaim the throne.
He’s made the technical adjustments necessary to achieve a different outcome, but he’s also changed his mindset.
After five years at the top in ONE, “The Immortal” acknowledges that he could have lost some of the drive, but now as a challenger again, it’s returned stronger than ever:
“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.”
