Regian Eersel

Regian Eersel (born 16 December 1992) is a Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer currently signed to ONE Championship. He is the current ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Champion and former ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion.

Regian Eersel is one of the most accomplished champions in One Championship, holding multiple records including being the first person to defend belts in two sports (Kickboxing and Muay thai), the only person to defend them multiple times, most title defenses in kickboxing, and the longest superseries reign

He is ranked as the best welterweight in the world by Combat Press as of September 2022, and the second best by Beyond Kickboxing as of October 2022. He has been continually ranked in Combat Press the top 10 since March 2019. As of March 2023, Eersel is ranked the No. 1 light heavyweight by WBC Muaythai. Eersel holds notable victories over Nieky Holzken (2×), Dmitry Menshikov, Sinsamut Klinmee (2×), Arian Sadiković, Mustapha Haida, Jamal Yusupov, Sergej Braun, Brad Riddell, and Jo Nattawut

Background

Eersel was born in Paramaribo, Suriname and moved to the Netherlands with his family when he was four years old. He started taekwondo at the age of eight, and transitioned to rugby afterwards. At the age of 15, he started training at Sityodtong Gym in Amsterdam. His nickname, The Immortal, was given to Eersel in this early amateur era. His teammates gave it to him, as he never used the break time between the rounds to sit and regain breath.

As it was not easy to find competitors in the Netherlands after becoming a professional athlete in his weightclass, he tried his luck abroad. In Baku, Azerbaijan, Eersel took part in a K1-tournament, where he qualified for the finals. He did not win the finals, but the hunger for more had started.

After this Eersel was invited for competitions in his country of birth Surinam, Russia (W5), Greece, Germany, Turkey (Mix Fight Gala), the US (Legacy and Lion Fight) and China (Wu Lin Feng, Glory of Heroes).

Kickboxing career

Early career

Eersel made his Lion Fight debut against Jo Nattawut at Lion Fight 29 on May 27, 2016. He won the fight in the fifth round, with a head kick knockout.

After defeating the two-weight Lion Fight champion, Eersel was given a chance to fight for the Super Middleweight title, with his opponent being Jake Purdy. The title bout took place at Lion Fight 33 on November 18, 2016. Eersel won the fight by a second-round technical knockout. He then fought Chen Yawei during Mix Fight Gala 20, on December 3, 2016, winning the fight by a first round-knockout. Eersel made his first Lion Fight title defense against Dewitt Pratt at Lion Fight 34 on February 3, 2017. He won the fight by a knockout in the first round.

Eersel took part in the Mix Fight Gala 78.5 kg tournament, which took place at Mix Fight Gala 21 on May 6, 2017. He beat Marco Pleschberger in the semi-finals by a second-round technical knockout, and Sergej Braun in the finals by a first-round knockout to capture the tournament title.

Regian made his second Lion Fight title defense against Matous Kohout at Lion Fight 38 on September 29, 2017. He won the fight by a fifth-round KO. His third title defense came during Lion Fight 50, when he defeated Joakim Hagg by a fifth-round TKO.

ONE Championship

Eersel made his ONE Championship debut against Brad Riddell at ONE Championship: Heroes of Honor in April 2018. Eersel won the fight by a unanimous decision. Despite being contracted with ONE Championship, Eersel made his third Lion Fight title defense against Joakim Hagg at Lion Fight 50 on November 3, 2018. He won the fight by a fifth-round technical knockout.

Eersel faced Anthony Njokuani at ONE Championship: Call to Greatness on February 22, 2019. He won the fight by second-round knockout. The fight ended in some controversy, as Njokuani claimed an illegal elbow led to his stoppage loss. Njokuani later appealed the decision.

Lightweight kickboxing champion

On May 17, 2019, he challenged Nieky Holzken for the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship at ONE Championship 96: Enter the Dragon on May 17, 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Eersel made his first title defense in an immediate rematch with Holzken at ONE Championship: Dawn Of Valor on October 26, 2019. He once again won the fight by unanimous decision.

Eersel was booked to make his second title defense against Mustapha Haida at ONE Championship: Unbreakable. However, Haida was forced to withdraw after sustaining an injury, leading to the cancellation of their bout. Regian Eersel was later scheduled to defend the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship against Islam Murtazaev at ONE Championship: Fists Of Fury 3 on March 19, 2021. Murtazaev himself would later withdraw, for undisclosed reasons, and was replaced by Mustapha Haida. Eersel successfully defended the title by unanimous decision.

Eersel defended his title against Islam Murtazaev at ONE: Winter Warriors on December 3, 2021. He won the bout via split decision.

Eersel was scheduled to make his fourth ONE lightweight title defense against Arian Sadiković at ONE 156 on April 8, 2022. Despite suffering an early knockdown, Eersel rallied back to win the following rounds and retain his title by unanimous decision. He was awarded a $50,000 bonus for winning the fight.

Two sport lightweight champion

Eersel faced Sinsamut Klinmee for the inaugural ONE Muay Thai Lightweight World Championship at ONE on Prime Video 3 on October 21, 2022. He captured the championship by split decision.

Eersel made his first lightweight Muay Thai title defense in an immediate rematch with Sinsamut Klinmee at ONE Friday Fights 9 on March 17, 2023. He won the fight by a fourth-round knockout. Eersel was awarded a $50,000 bonus following this victory.

Eersel was booked to defend his ONE Championship Lightweight Muay Thai title against Dmitry Menshikov at ONE Fight Night 11 on June 9, 2023. He won the fight by a first-round knockout.

Eersel was scheduled to defend the ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship against Alexis Nicolas at ONE Fight Night 21 on April 6, 2024, he lost his Kickboxing title via unanimous decision.

Personal life

Eersel and his girlfriend have two daughters.

Championships

• ONE Championship
  • ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Championship (One time; current)
    • Two successful title defenses
  • ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship (One time; former)
    • Four successful title defenses
  • Performance of the Night (Three time) (vs. Arian Sadiković, Sinsamut Klinmee, Dmitry Menshikov)
  • Third athlete to hold belts in two sports in ONE Championship (Muay Thai, Kickboxing)
  • Only athlete in ONE Championship to defend the belts in both sports
  • most title defenses for kickboxing in ONE Championship (4)
  • most consecutive title defenses for kickboxing in ONE Championship (4)
  • Most wins in the ONE Super Series Lightweight Division (10)
  • Longest ONE Super Series reign 1864 days
    (incumbent)
  • Longest active win streak in ONE Championship (10)
  • Longest Kickboxing win streak in ONE Championship (6)
  • Most cumulative Significant strikes landed in One Super Series Lightweight (887)
• Mix Fighting Championship
  • 2017 Mix Fight -78.5 kg Tournament Winner
• Lion Fight
  • Lion Fight Super Middleweight World Champion (168 lb) 2016 (Three title defenses)

Fight record

See also

• List of male kickboxers

References

External links

• Official ONE Championship profile