"He's at the world level" - Regian Eersel admits Alexis Nicolas is one of his toughest opponents to date

Regian Eersel certainly wasn't taking his opponent for granted heading into a huge fight at Lumpinee Stadium.

'The Immortal' knows that anyone who makes it to ONE Championship is going to present a tough challenge, even to someone who is as experienced at the highest level as he is.

This was the case at ONE Fight Night 21 earlier this year, where Alexis Nicolas pulled off a major upset to defeat Eersel and claim the ONE lightweight kickboxing world championship.

The two men ran it back in the main event of ONE Fight Night 25 where 'The Immortal' was able to gain revenge and reclaim the gold.

Having gone ten rounds with Nicolas in total, the world champion had only positive things to say about his opponent by the end of the fight.

Eersel knows top-level competitors when he sees them, and in his opinion, that's where the French striker belongs, as he spoke about in a post-fight interview with Nick Atkin:

"He's good. He's at the world level. Here at ONE, we are world-class strikers, so he is really good."

Watch the full interview below:

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Regian Eersel was on another level on October 4

Alexis Nicolas certainly showed that he belonged at ONE Fight Night 21, but this wasn't enough to beat Regian Eersel the second time around. The best martial artists in the world can make the right adjustments to beat any opponent regardless of their style or attributes.

This is exactly what 'The Immortal' did this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 25, where he showed clear development from their first encounter.

Nicolas wasn't able to have nearly as much success the second time around, and that credit belongs to Eersel and the way he fought. The champion is back at the top, but don't be surprised to see them cross paths once again.

The replay of ONE Fight Night 25 is available on demand for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.