"Not a lot of people knew me" - Lightweight kickboxing champ Alexis Nicolas recalls his career-defining win over Regian Eersel
Alexis Nicolas knew full well that he was entering into the main event of ONE Fight Night 21 as an unknown quantity. The French striker has certainly paid his dues on the European scene before arriving in ONE Championship.
On his debut at ONE Friday Fights 47, Nicolas earned his first win under the ONE banner by beating Magomed Magomedov via unanimous decision.
It's understandable that many fans were surprised when he was announced as the next challenger for Regian Eersel's ONE lightweight kickboxing world championship. However, after the performance he put on back in April, the same cannot be said for their upcoming rematch.
At ONE Fight Night 25 on October 4, Nicolas will enter Lumpinee Stadium as the world champion and try to leave with the belt still wrapped around his waist. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA on the build-up to fight night, the champion spoke about how he announced himself in his first meeting with Eersel:
"I think I hurt a lot of fans that day because not a lot of people knew me before this fight. But now they know that I'm a good champ."
Fans know what to expect from Alexis Nicolas in the rematch
Even the fans who noticed Alexis Nicolas on his ONE debut had very little tape to study on the challenger. After seeing him go five rounds with Regian Eersel earlier this year, they now know what to expect from the defending champion.
Most importantly, he proved that he wouldn't crumble under the pressure of such a high-stakes fight against one of the best in the world.
Nicolas also showed that he had the power to cause problems for the former champion, which ended up swaying the fight in his favor. Now, we will see how he can build on that performance in the rematch.
ONE Fight Night 25 will air live in US primetime free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in North America.