ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Regian Eersel is not one to compete for outright monetary bonuses but admits those available in ONE Championship provide extra motivation.
'The Immortal' shared his thoughts on the $50,000 performance bonus handed out by the promotion's Chairman and CEO Chantri Sityodtong for exemplary showing during fight nights, highlighting how it makes the organization stand out from the others.
The 31-year-old Surinamese-Dutch fighter told MMA UK in an interview:
"Yes, yeah. It's ONE Championship. It's the only kickboxing organization, like mixed martial arts organization, that gives the KO bonuses, you know, and then like 30-40, I think every fighter on that card, you know. So it's definitely a motivation also for all the fighters."
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Check out what he had to say below:
In Regian Eersel's six-year ONE journey so far, he has received a performance bonus three times. The most recent of which was at ONE Fight Night 11 in June last year, where he knocked out Dmirty Menshikov of Russia in just 46 seconds to retain the ONE lightweight Muay Thai belt.
A bonus-deserving performance is what Eersel is now angling for to come up with a win in his scheduled return to action at ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 4 in Thailand. There he will try to reclaim the lightweight kickboxing world title from Frenchman Alexis Nicolas, who took it from him back in April.
ONE Fight Night 25: Nicolas-Eersel II will air live and for free to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Regian Eersel proud to still continue headlining ONE events
Regian Eersel will enter ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 4 as a challenger after some time but is not nonetheless proud and excited to be part of another headlining contest in ONE Championship.
The veteran Surinamese-Dutch fighter will take on Alexis Nicolas of France in a title rematch for the ONE lightweight kickboxing championship belt, which will be the main event contest of the event happening at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
In the same interview with MMA UK, Eersel spoke of the pride he feels every time he is asked to be part of a headlining match in ONE, saying:
"True, true, true. For me, it's almost normal, but for most of the fighters, it's not normal to fight in the main event. But yeah, every time somebody reminds me of it, I'm thinking like, yeah, I'm fighting the main event each time. And it's one thing to be proud of and I'm definitely proud of myself and of my team..."
At ONE Fight Night 25, Regian Eersel is out to redeem himself after losing the ONE lightweight kickboxing belt to Nicolas by way of decision in their first encounter back in April.