“I was doing the belt sign” - Alexis Nicolas says he sensed he was the champ even before getting hand raised against Regian Eersel

Alexis Nicolas had no reason to doubt he was on his way to world title glory the first time he faced Regian Eersel for the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title.

Even before the final bell sounded at ONE Fight Night 21, Nicolas believed he would get the gold draped on his shoulder. Then, it turned out his prediction came perfectly true.

Nicolas did the impossible and dethroned Eersel of the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title. He now plans to score another win over Eersel in the main event of ONE Fight Night 25 this Friday at Lumpinee Stadium.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Alexis Nicolas said he was confident he was on his way to holding the gold even before the judges' unanimous decision was announced.

He said:

"Yeah, you can see during the fight, in the fifth round, I put my hands up. I was doing the belt sign with my hands because I knew I was the champ already. When you watch the fight outside of the ring, it is not the same as inside. I said it was very painful and I punched harder than him."

While much of his first fight against Eersel was as close as any, Nicolas scored a massive knockdown in the second round when he connected with a well-timed overhand right.

That early knockdown proved pivotal for Nicolas as he extended his perfect record to 24 straight wins and established himself as one of the most feared strikers on the planet.

Nicolas' world title defense against Eersel, and the entire ONE Fight Night 25 card is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Alexis Nicolas certain his world title defense against Regian Eersel will end in a knockout

Alexis Nicolas believes there's only one conclusion to his first world title defense against Regian Eersel at ONE Fight Night 25.

In the same interview with ONE Championship, Nicolas said a knockout is practically guaranteed when he faces Eersel, who still holds the ONE lightweight Muay Thai world title, in Bangkok.

"This fight will be a very crazy fight. You sleep or I sleep. In the fight, [I don't think] we will go five rounds."