Regian Eersel reclaimed his spot as ONE Championship’s top 170-pound kickboxer on Friday night, avenging a prior loss to Alexis Nicolas with a five-round unanimous decision victory.
Eersel showed slick boxing and an aggressive style against Nicolas through the 15 minutes of action, earning him a title in the main event of a card from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Eersel, who was looking to regain his spot at the top of the kickboxing division after having a multi-year run with the belt before, had a strong start to the fight. He was able to avoid the kick-heavy attacks of Nicolas early on, switching stances and having quick footwork to avoid chopping blows to his legs.
Eersel mixed together a multitude of strikes to score early. Late in the opening frame he notably connected with a clean head kick, then followed up with a left hook to the head.
The second round saw Eersel at his most aggressive, marching down Nicolas with boxing combinations. The right hand of Eersel would snap the head of Nicolas back, but the tough French fighter never found himself in significant trouble.
Eersel opened the third round with the persistent style that he put forth earlier in the bout but was significantly slowed down after he ate a right hand one minute into the round. It was at that point when Nicolas seemingly started to control the fight for the first time, relaxing the pace and finding success as a counter-striker.
However, Eersel was by no means out of the fight. He seemingly snagged the fourth round off his backfoot with a high volume of leg kicks and punches and kept the fight competitive through the fourth round to do more than enough for a scorecard win.
“[I was] moving a lot, working on my speed instead of power, and you saw the result,” said Eersel in his post-fight interview.
The victory kicks off Eersel’s second kickboxing title reign in ONE just months after his record-setting run on top of the 170-pound division came to an end.
Nicolas dethroned Eersel back in April, earning a knockdown en route to a scorecard win. The victory ended Eersel’s historic 1,700-day reign in the division. He defended his belt four times during that time, making him the most successful kickboxing champion in ONE history. The defeat was Eersel’s first-ever loss in ONE and ended a winning streak that dated all the way back to 2016. It gave loads of credibility to Nicolas, a 26-year-old who had appeared in just one bout for the promotion prior to the title shot.
After the fight, Eersel expressed interest in putting his Muay Thai belt, which he gained two years ago, on the line next.
“I’m gonna enjoy this victory, and I think after this I’m gonna defend my Muay Thai belt,” he said. “But we’ll see what ONE offers me.”
Friday’s ONE card was just eight bouts in total, losing a pair of fights the day prior due to the promotion’s new zero-tolerance policy for failed hydration tests. While a third matchup, a Muay Thai contest between Shir Cohen and Amy Pirnie, was expected to be scrapped due to the rule, the fight ended up going forward.
An MMA clash between Hiroba Minowa and Sanzhar Zakirov was pulled from the show the day of the event, with The Bangkok Post’s Nicolas Atkin reporting that Minowa withdrew due to being involved in a minor car accident which caused whiplash. A pairing between the 125-pound fighters has fallen through on two different cards this year now.
Earlier in the night, former UFC fighter and past ONE champ John Lineker scored his second Muay Thai victory, stopping Alexey Balyko in the second round with a left hook.
Here are the quick results from Friday’s card:
Main Card (8:00PM EDT / 7:00PM ICT) (Amazon Prime Video)
Bout 8: Regian Eersel def. Alexis Nicolas via Decision, Unanimous (ONE Kickboxing Lightweight Championship) (170 lbs)
Bout 7: Youssef Assouik def. Sinsamut Klinmee via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 6: John Lineker def. Alexey Balyko via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:14) (Muay Thai)
Bout 5: Mansur Malachiev def. Bokang Masunyane via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Johan Estupinan def. Zakaria El Jamari via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:07) (Muay Thai)
Bout 3: Shir Cohen def. Amy Pirnie via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 2: Rui Botelho def. Thongpoon Petchportoror via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 1: Danial Williams def. Banma Duoji via Decision, Unanimous
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