"It worked perfectly" - Regian Eersel says focusing on speed in training camp paid dividends against Alexis Nicolas
Regian Eersel has spent the last few months working on the next evolution of his game before returning to Lumpinee Stadium with revenge on his mind. 'The Immortal' was already an incredibly well-rounded elite-level competitor, but there are always ways to improve.
After losing his ONE lightweight kickboxing world championship to Alexis Nicolas at ONE Fight Night 21, he went back to the drawing board. When reflecting on the fight, the former champion noted that he needed to be more active in the fight in terms of his movement.
By combining this with an emphasis on speed, he was able to stay a step ahead of his opponent for the majority of the rematch this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 25.
In an interview with Nick Atkin after the fight, Eersel spoke about his keys to victory after reclaiming the title:
"The difference this time is I was focusing more on my speed, more on my boxing skills, more moving a lot, because I'm an aggressive fighter, but I don't move a lot like in the last fight. But Alexis moves a lot and he's fast, so I had to adapt my fighting style, and I did, and it worked perfectly."
Watch the full interview below:
Regian Eersel fought with an overwhelming pace
In his first encounter with Alexis Nicolas, Regian Eersel came on strong in the later rounds but found himself down on the scorecards. He didn't let this happen the second time around, coming out of the blocks fast with plenty of movement and output.
The speed of his hands in particular was a big problem for Nicolas who was no longer able to set up his low kicks or powerful counter shots.
Eersel reclaimed the throne and showed in the process that he's always evolving despite all of his high-level experience.
Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada can watch the replay of ONE Fight Night 25 on demand.