Surinamese star Regian Eersel knows what it means to be a ONE world champion, but even more so, it was never about winning the belts for him. The 31-year-old fighter has been in the game for so long that it all goes back to his initial dream of entertaining fans and traveling the world.
And, the ONE lightweight Muay Thai world champion knows he has achieved that goal and will continue to maintain it.
Eersel spoke to MMA UK about his dreams of fighting and how it all began in a recent interview ahead of his clash with Alexis Nicolas at ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 4.
'The Immortal' said:
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"Fighting in a foreign country, far away, for 4000 people in a big arena, making money, of course, also. That was my dream back then, it still is."
He further explained:
"Most people think, yeah, it was my goal to become a world champion. It was not my goal to become a world champion. My goal was and is still, to travel the world, fight to entertain the people, and make some money. And, you know, see some different cultures."
Check out the full interview below:
Regian Eersel proud to continue his role in headlining ONE events
Although Regian Eersel will take the role of a challenger at ONE Fight Night 25 on Oct. 4, the Surinamese superstar is still proud to keep on headlining ONE Championship's events.
The ONE lightweight Muay Thai world champion is scheduled to challenge newly minted kickboxing world champion Alexis Nicolas in a rematch of their first clash, where Eersel lost his belt to the latter.
With that in mind, 'The Immortal' told MMA UK in the same interview about the pride he feels every time he's asked to headline a card in the promotion.
Regian Eersel said:
"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..."
ONE Fight Night 25 will air live in U.S. primetime and free of charge for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.