"I'm not in my prime yet" - Alexis Nicolas says he's yet to hit full potential after stunning win over Regian Eersel

After pulling off one of the year's biggest upsets, Alexis Nicolas believes that the best is still to come from him.

The 25-year-old striker has been one of the biggest success stories in ONE Championship this year off the back of two wins.

After defeating Magomed Magomedov in January, Nicolas went from the frying pan and into the fire with his second fight in the promotion.

The French striker was tasked with trying to end the dominant reign of Regian Eersel, and to nearly everyone's surprise, he did it.

At ONE Fight Night 21, Aleix Nicolas left the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium with the ONE lightweight kickboxing world championship after securing a closely contested decision win.

In his post-fight press conference, the new champion said that he is still just starting to hit his stride as a competitor, and in order to keep that momentum going, he will be returning to training as soon as he is healthy again:

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

Watch the full press conference below:

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Alexis Nicolas didn't just catch people off guard on April 5

Alexis Nicolas certainly came into ONE Fight Night 21 under the radar, and this element of surprise will undoubtedly help him get inside the ring.

The challenger didn't have the pressure on his shoulders despite coming into the biggest fight of his career to date.

However, to say that his performance was just unexpected would be doing the new champion a disservice.

Nicolas fought smart against Regian Eersel and was able to capitalize early on in the fight with a second-round knockdown that ended up winning him the contest.

With Eersel chasing the fight in the later rounds, he kept his composure and pace with 'The Immortal' to ensure he won.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch the entire ONE Fight Night 21 card via the free on-demand replay.