“He was hard to hit” - Alexis Nicolas reveals he and his team focused on immobilizing Regian Eersel at ONE Fight Night 21

Alexis Nicolas knew he had to get crafty if he wanted to even get a chance of landing a shot against Regian Eersel.

The new ONE lightweight kickboxing world champion revealed he and his team focused on practically immobilizing Eersel during the French star's career-defining win at ONE Fight Night 21.

Nicolas told Sportskeeda MMA in an interview that he zeroed in on Eersel's lead leg in an attempt to push the pace and dictate the fight's tempo at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

"The game plan was to focus on the calf kick because he was hard to hit. So I repeatedly kicked his knee."

Eersel stands at a tall 6-foot-2 and used that height to carve out a legendary 22-fight winning streak heading into his world title fight against Nicolas this past weekend.

Alexis Nicolas, though, isn't that far at six feet tall and methodically chopped away at Eersel's left leg throughout the contest.

'Barboza' found his breakthrough in the second round when he clocked a lunging Eersel with a blinding overhand right that brought the Surinamese superstar down.

Eersel, who still holds the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title, tried to fight back in the latter rounds but Nicolas showed utmost composure under the onslaught.

Despite Eersel's renewed aggression in the fourth and fifth rounds, Nicolas found a way to counter the storm and escaped with the unanimous decision win.

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Alexis Nicolas says he's only starting to build on his legacy

Alexis Nicolas captured arguably the biggest upset win in kickboxing history for the past decade, but the 25-year-old believes he's just getting started.

In his post-fight press conference, Nicolas said he's far from the best version of himself and he's yet to enter his athletic prime.

"Of course, I'm not in my prime yet. You know, I will rest a little because I'm tired and a little bit painful, and then I will come back to training."