“I want to experience that” - Regian Eersel recalls how watching kickboxing with his parents made him fall in love with the sport

Fighters often start as fans of the sport, and Regian Eersel was once the same kid who wanted to emulate the kickboxers of his youth.

The former two-sport world champion recalled that he and his parents often watched K-1 broadcasts while he was growing up in the Netherlands.

Already training in taekwondo at a young age, Eersel told MMA UK that watching the kickboxers of the mid to late 1990s sparked his interest in the sport.

Regian Eersel would then decide that kickboxing would be his passion and a sport that he would absolutely dominate during his professional career.

He said:

"During that time, I was watching with my parents the K-1 show on television in Japan, and I was nine, ten years old, in Eurosport. And back then, I was like, ah, I want to experience that also."

That spark turned into an unmitigated flame within Eersel, and the Dutch-Surinamese superstar ultimately became one of the sport's greatest-ever fighters.

Getting dubbed 'The Immortal' for his endless cardio and killer instinct, Eersel tore through multiple promotions before he arrived in ONE Championship in 2018.

Eersel was an unstoppable force the moment he joined the promotion and became the inaugural ONE lightweight kickboxing world champion when he beat Dutch legend Nieky Holzken in May 2019.

The 31-year-old reached champ-champ status three years later when he beat Sinsamut Klinmee for the inaugural ONE lightweight Muay Thai world title in October 2022.

Eersel, however, relinquished his kickboxing throne in his previous fight when he lost to current holder Alexis Nicolas this past April.

Nevertheless, Eersel can reclaim his lost throne when he rematches Nicolas in the main event of ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 4, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.

ONE Fight Night 25 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Regian Eersel says he could fight in MMA if given the chance

It's not uncommon for kickboxers and Muay Thai artists to crossover to each other's disciplines in ONE Championship, but it's been rare to see pure strikers jump to MMA.

Regian Eersel, though, wants to buck that trend.

In the same interview, Eersel said he'd fight under MMA if ONE Championship gives him the time to prepare.

"If the terms are good, you know, and they offer good money and they give me time to prepare, I would do an MMA fight, of course."

Watch the entire interview below: