Regian Eersel reflects on an early moment he nearly called it quits on his career: “I was down”

Regian Eersel had to endure loads of hardships to sit in the position he is in today.

Now a two-sport world champion, owning lightweight kickboxing and Muay Thai gold in ONE Championship, the Dutch-Surinamese superstar looks to continue his impressive run when he returns to competition on Friday, June 9.

‘The Immortal’ is scheduled to defend his Muay Thai gold in the main event of ONE Fight Night 11 against Dmitry Menshikov, potentially looking to extend his hellish streak to 22 consecutive wins.

But as he recalls, going on a lengthy win streak wasn’t all butterflies and rainbows during the start of his professional journey.

In fact, in an interview on Sensai Sam, Regian Eersel pointed out that opponents kept pulling out from fights against him because they were afraid to go toe-to-toe with him. As a result, he did contemplate quitting.

The Sityodtong Amsterdam athlete said:

“You know, If you’re a fighter and you don’t fight for nine months or ten months, I start to question myself ‘Why am I doing this?’. Because no fight, no money. I cannot do what I like. And why do I have to go to the gym if I wasn’t fighting? So at that time, I was like whatever, I wanted to quit. I said ‘F*** it, I’m going to quit kickboxing’. But it was my trainer who told me not to quit.”

He added:

“He told me I have so many talent, don’t waste it, and keep going. I’m normally an emotionally happy guy, I don’t talk a lot. But I’m always smiling. But at that time, it was like no talking. I was down. But yeah, I’m very happy that he did that. Otherwise, I won’t be sitting here today. It was ten years ago.”

Watch the full interview here:

After building a 9-0 resume as a young 20-year-old, Regian Eersel found it hard for organizers to pair him up in tournaments across Netherlands and Europe.

Thankfully, ‘The Immortal’ stuck to his occupation, which has led him onto a path of two world titles.

Catch Regian Eersel in action in the main event of ONE Fight Night 11. North American fans with an Amazon Prime subscription can catch the entire June 9 bill live and for free.