“It’s not a failure” - Former champ Alexis Nicolas plans to use his lessons from losing to Regian Eersel to elevate his craft

Alexis Nicolas is more than ready to bounce back from arguably the most heartbreaking defeat of his career.

The former ONE lightweight kickboxing world champion failed to regain the gold when he lost to archrival Regian Eersel via majority decision in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 30 this past weekend at Lumpinee Stadium.

Taking to Instagram, Nicolas reflected on his defeat and said he'd use the lessons he learned from his loss against the ONE lightweight Muay Thai world champion.

"It's not a failure; it's a defeat on paper, but it's not a failure. Today, it's hard for me to talk to you with my head held high, but I owe it to myself to remain the people's champion," said Alexis Nicolas.

Eersel was in high spirits heading into his trilogy match against Eersel and had a near-perfect fight week for ONE Fight Night 30.

The French star was in peak shape, while Eersel was stripped of the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title after failing weight and hydration during the card's official weigh-ins.

Nicolas had a golden chance at redemption in the trilogy match, but Eersel once again proved that he's one of history's greatest strikers.

Eersel was at his calculated best, throwing Nicolas off with a methodical offense and a deceptive defense throughout the five-round fight.

Picking his spots at a scientific pace, Eersel scored a crucial knockdown late in the second round when he clocked Nicolas with a crushing left hook to the jaw.

That early knockdown was enough for Eersel to take control of the scorecards and beat Nicolas via majority decision to close their feud.

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Alexis Nicolas says he'll be back stronger than ever after losing to Regian Eersel

Alexis Nicolas wants to fuel his future redemption arc with his previous setbacks.

In another Instagram post, 'Barboza' said there's nowhere for him to go but to embark on a string of victories after failing to recapture the vacant ONE lightweight kickboxing world title against Regian Eersel at ONE Fight Night 30:

"These last three fights have brought me so much. I can’t wait to get back into training, rebox, learn from my past experiences, and continue to progress. Victory, that I have always been accustomed to, will never taste the same!"