You can fool Regian “The Immortal” Eersel once, but you can’t fool him twice.
The Surinamese superstar defeated old foe Alexis “Barboza” Nicolas by unanimous decision in the main event of ONE Fight Night 25 on Prime Video to recapture the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title and once again become a two-sport king in U.S. primetime on Friday, October 4.
Early on, Eersel stalked Nicolas around the ring at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, using his jab to set up a plethora of attacks.
From the outside, the Sityodtong Amsterdam gym representative snapped his left hand in the face of Nicolas and followed with low kicks, body shots, and his trademark jumping knees.
The Frenchman absorbed the crushing blows without wilting under the pressure, and by midway through the contest, he began attacking with the same ferocity. The 26-year-old launched high kicks and spinning attacks with both fists and feet to try and slow Eersel down, but the latter only ramped up the action.
In the championship rounds, “The Immortal” laid out the rest of his game plan. That plan included staying as close to Nicolas as possible and wearing him down with low kicks. Those tactics worked, as all three judges awarded Eersel the World Title victory.
Not only did the 31-year-old regain the lightweight kickboxing belt to pair with his lightweight Muay Thai gold, but he also bumped his professional record to 62-5 and handed Nicolas the only loss of his 25-fight career.
