“Now it’s time” - Champ-champ Regian Eersel plans to defend his lightweight Muay Thai throne for a third time

After fulfilling his mission of reclaiming his lost kickboxing gold, Regian Eersel shifted his plans and now plans to defend his Muay Thai throne for a third time.

Eersel is coming off a clinical unanimous decision win to regain the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title from Alexis Nicolas in the main event of ONE Fight Night 25 this past weekend at Lumpinee Stadium.

The recrowned double-champ looked like his best self once again when he utterly dominated Nicolas in a systematic display of violence in Bangkok.

In his post-fight interview following the event, Eersel said he wants to take a short break before hitting the gym and refocusing his goals on defending the ONE lightweight Muay Thai world title.

Regian Eersel said:

"I hope my next fight will be in Muay Thai because the position is waiting for me. It took a long time to defend my Muay Thai belt so I think now it's time."

Eersel became the inaugural ONE lightweight kickboxing world champion when he captured the strap in May 2019 against Dutch legend Nieky Holzken at ONE: Enter the Dragon.

'The Immortal' reached champ-champ status when he became the first holder of the ONE lightweight Muay Thai world title in Oct. 2022 at the expense of Thai superstar Sinsamut Klinmee.

Regian Eersel has since defended his Muay Thai throne two times against Sinsamut and Dmitry Menshikov, with both wins ending in highlight-reel knockouts.

---

Regian Eersel revealed French fans messaged him on social media saying Alexis Nicolas would knock him out

Fighters and fans have had an interesting relationship since combat sports became incredibly accessible due to social media. While some have nothing but praise for the fighters, some try to go the extra mile and do a bit of trash talk with them.

Eersel revealed in his post-fight interview that French fans directly messaged him on Instagram telling him that Alexis Nicolas would knock him out at ONE Fight Night 25.

Those hostile fans, however, just stoked the fires within Eersel.

"Yes, of course, especially the French fans. I got a lot of messages [saying] that I was going to sleep. But that only added fuel to the fire. It only motivated me, and you saw the result."