In just his second fight in ONE Championship, Alexis Nicolas has been thrust into a title shot against two-sport ONE World Champion Regian Eersel. The Frenchman battles Eersel in the main event of ONE Fight Night 21 on Prime Video on Friday, April 5, inside Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand – and he has every chance to walk away with the latter’s ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title when the fight airs live in U.S. primetime.
Nicolas’ sole entry into ONE came this past January at ONE Friday Fights 47. On that night, he dispatched Magomed Magomedov by unanimous decision. So when offered a World Title bout with Eersel, the 23-0 battler was happy to take the opportunity. He recognizes Eersel’s talents and expects nothing less than a firefight.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Regian Eersel. He’s one of the best fighters of this generation,” Nicolas said. “I have a lot of respect for the athlete outside of the ring, but once we’re in the ring, we’ll let the best man win. It’s going to be a war between two lions.”
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The fight has fans around the world excited given that both men are undefeated in ONE. So when the bell rings in Bangkok, Thailand, Nicolas plans to leave Lumpinee Stadium wearing gold in only his second promotional outing.
Alexis Nicolas believes Regian Eersel hasn’t fought anybody like him
Two-sport ONE World Champion Regian Eersel has beaten everyone there is to beat in Muay Thai and kickboxing, but one man he hasn’t yet faced is ONE newcomer Alexis Nicolas. And the latter believes his style will cause major problems for “The Immortal.”
Eersel currently rides an 11-fight winning streak into ONE Fight Night 21 next month, which amounts to a 22-fight winning streak overall. But Nicolas has also amassed an astonishing 23-0 record throughout his kickboxing career. Veterans, prospects, deadly challengers – Eersel has toppled them all. But Nicolas believes the skill set he possesses makes him an anomaly in the division.
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“I think Eersel has fought against a lot of good fighters but nobody with my style. For me, that will be the difference. He’s fought fighters that punch harder than me, are faster than me, but not like me. I think that will be the difference,” the Frenchman said. “I know he has good knees, good punches, but I fight against fighters who fight like this. Not as good as him, but fight like him.”
ONE Fight Night 21’s main event could see a serious change in the division when Nicolas attempts to snatch the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title from Eersel, but time will tell as to whether Eersel can overcome yet another dangerous challenger.