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Regian Eersel looks for fourth title defence at ONE, April 22
Under the radar, a phrase you wouldn’t usually hear in relation to a champion, but for ONE lightweight Kickboxing champion Regian Eersel, it rings true.
You’d have thought after 3 title defences in one of the world leading combat sports promotions you’d hear his name alot more but no, he springs up a couple of times a year, dispatches of a challenger and reminds us all how great he is, before going back to the lab to refine his tools for the next one.
Regian returns to action on April 22nd, headlining ONE’s next event with his 4th title defence, taking on German slugger, Arian Sadikovic. Sadikovic is coming off a win in his ONE debut last December, an impressive unanimous decision victory over Italy’s Mustapha Haida.
With an impressive kickboxing record of 57-4 (6-0 in ONE), Regian is no stranger to high level striking competition and at just 29 years of age has won titles in Lion Fight and ONE, beating opponents such as Jo Nattawut, Nieky Holzken and the UFC’s Brad Riddell.
His knockout over an always game Nattawut sits atop his decorated highlight reel, the dutchman executed a picture perfect headkick disguised expertly by a right hand to score a finish for the ages.
Trust me, if you haven’t seen it, I suggest you do.
Eersels fighting style is an awkward and unique one for his division yet has proven very effective. His 6’2 frame sees him tower over most of his opponents, using his long jab and wild straights to spearhead a pressure heavy game. Eersels key tools however are his legs. Whether it be leg kicks, head kicks or more prominently knee strikes, his lower body strikes are the money makers. The flying knee has almost become a signiture of his, a tool he has utilised effectively against pretty much all of his ONE opponents. This is a guy who certainly knows how to use his size and long limbs to maximum effect and the results are there to show for it.
This crafty kickboxing game has culminated in a stack of impressive wins since the beginning of his ONE campaign.
Eersels big break under the ONE banner was a title shot against dutch icon Nieky Holzken, a man who had looked unstoppable since signing for the promotion. Eersel controlled the fight with his awkward boxing combinations, drawing them out to mix in the knees which saw Holzken to the canvas. This awkward and difficult style built into a frame like Eersels and a pressure heavy approach seemed too much for his Dutch counterpart , even in the rematch. Eersel took both contests via decision.
Regian went on to take out Mustapha Haida and newcomer Islam Murtazaev both via decision en route to his upcoming fourth title defence, the latter proving to be his toughest test yet under the ONE banner.
Although ONE’s lightweight kickboxing division is by no means as deep as its featherweight counterpart, Regian has quite clearly proven he is at the top of the heap no matter how high that heap may be. He has refined a uniquely effective style which has yet to be counteracted in the last 6 years.
I believe he is one of the most underappreciated champions in combat sports. He may not be a noise maker or a prolific trash talker, but what he is is a winner and as long as he keeps winning everyone will eventually be forced to take note.
After months of speculation, the UFC have confirmed that UFC 304 will be heading to Manchester’s brand-new Co-Op Live arena on Saturday July 27th.
No headliners have been announced, but the event is expected to feature a double-header with both Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards (22-3 1NC) and Interim Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall (14-3) defending their gold, with the latter going as far as announcing he would be on the card. The organisation have confirmed that the event will be taking place at US primetime, with prelims kicking off at 11pm BST and the main card at 3am BST.
This will be the UFC’s return to Manchester for the first time since UFC 204 in October 2016, which saw Michael Bisping (30-9) defend his Middleweight Championship against longtime rival Dan Henderson (32-15), with Gegard Mousasi (49-9) defeating Vitor Belfort (26-14) in the co-main event. Current champ Edwards was on the card too, defeating Albert Tumenov (25-4) on the prelims.
Aspinall is looking to follow in the footsteps of Bisping and become the second hometown fighter to defend their belt in the city, having been born in Salford, and living and training in the Greater Manchester area. The expectation is that he will fight Curtis Blaydes (18-4) in a rematch of their July 2022 bout in which he suffered a catastrophic knee injury just fifteen seconds into the fight.
There is somewhat more uncertainty in regards to Edwards’ opponent, with him being offered and accepting three names for UFC 300. The most likely outcome seems to be a rematch with the #2 ranked Welterweight Belal Muhammad (23-3 1NC), who has proven himself more than deserving of what is a long-awaited shot, having gone ten fights unbeaten, including a no contest with Edwards.
Signed for the card is a featherweight bout between London’s Nathaniel Wood (19-6) and Daniel Pineda (28-15), as reported by Al Zullino, with a fight between ranked featherweights Arnold Allen (19-3) and Giga Chikadze (15-3) also reportedly in the works.
This will be the first MMA event at Co-Op Live, which was due to open yesterday, but delayed at the eleventh hour due to power supply issues. The current expectation is for the arena to open on Saturday with a concert by The Black Keys. It will be the largest indoor arena in the UK with a capacity up to 23,500 for concerts but it is unknown what this figure will be for combat sports. The venue is located at Etihad Campus, just a five minute walk from Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.
Tickets for the event will go on sale on June 7th. You can register your interest now here.
Multiple fights of significant importance will go down at ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova next week, and one of those is the featherweight MMA clash between Halil Amir and Akbar Abdullaev.
Both stars will bring an undefeated professional slate to Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium at the Saturday, 4th May event, meaning someone’s 0 will have to go.
Sitting proudly at 10-0, Amir’s “No Mercy” moniker couldn’t be more fitting. The Turkish powerhouse has racked up three wins since making his debut in ONE Championship in 2022, with two of those coming by knockout.
Halil Amir kicked off his promotional tenure by steamrolling former World Title challenger Timofey Nastyukhin inside two rounds and followed that up by stopping the momentum of fellow rising talent Maurice Abevi via decision in April 2023.
“No Mercy’s” name was already on many fans’ minds after those back-to-back victories, but his next fight would solidify him as one to watch.
The 29-year-old returned at ONE Fight Night 16 last November and earned his quickest finish yet by knocking out Pakistani punisher Ahmed Mujtaba in the first round. Now undoubtedly knocking on the door of the featherweight MMA rankings, Amir will be looking to keep his hype train going against Abdullaev next Saturday.
However, that will be a lot easier said than done, considering the caliber of the Krygz star’s skill set. Abdullaev also boasts a 10-0 professional record, and he will be hunting his third straight finish in ONE Championship next month.
“Bakal” has yet to go the distance in his career, with nine knockouts and a submission comprising his slate so far.
Abdullaev debuted in ONE at ONE Fight Night 8 in March 2023, where he dispatched South Korean scrapper Oh Ho Taek inside the opening frame.
The 26-year-old striker returned four months later at ONE Fight Night 12 and handed Aaron Canarte the first loss of his career, ending the Ecuadorian’s streak of 10 wins with another first-round demolition job.
Their respective recent histories would suggest that Abdullaev will come out on top at ONE Fight Night 22, given that he easily held his own against a previously unbeaten star. But there is little doubt Amir’s stoic style will cause him problems, so their clash should be a firefight with the potential of stealing the show when it does down on 4th May.
“The Iron Man’s” next fight in ONE Championship is confirmed, and it’ll be under kickboxing rules.
For the first time since January 2023, ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon will lace up the big gloves for a battle with Denis Puric at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on Saturday, 8th June, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Impact Arena.
Rodtang last competed at ONE Friday Fights 34 in September, where he suffered his first promotional loss in ONE’s striking ranks in a Muay Thai super-fight with flyweight kickboxing king Superlek Kiatmoo9.
Fortunately for the legendary Thai, his gold wasn’t up for grabs that evening as Superlek missed weight. But the pair delivered an iconic clash that rocked the combat sports world nonetheless, with Rodtang missing out by unanimous decision.
“The Iron Man” has been sidelined with a hand injury since then, and he was forced to pull out of his highly anticipated match with Takeru Segawa in his backyard in Tokyo earlier this year as a result.
However, all looks well for him to return in June, and fans are excited to see Puric get the dream fight he’s always wanted.
“The Bosnian Menace” has been amassing momentum in ONE Championship recently.
After quashing Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat’s comeback in December 2023, he scored a dynamic victory over former #2-ranked flyweight Muay Thai contender Jacob Smith at last month’s ONE Fight Night 21 to usurp the Brit’s position.
All the while, Puric has been calling out Rodtang and claiming that he would face him in any discipline.
Now, he gets his wish, and it will be fascinating to see how his never-back-down approach fares against the aggression of “The Iron Man” at ONE 167 on 8th June.
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