ONE 156: Regian Eersel predicts easy victory over Arian Sadikovic in ONE World title fight

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bengaluru, April 22: Regian Eersel has been the only ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Champion since winning the inaugural belt in 2019. Now he will make his fourth world title defense on Friday (April 22) against Arian Sadikovic.

"The Immortal" Eersel first saw the German fighter at ONE: WINTER WARRIORS II, wherein "Game Over" Sadikovic scored a unanimous decision victory over Mustapha Haida. Back then, the challenger had already made his intentions clear.

"[In December] I saw him [at the event], and he was looking at me like, 'I'm going to get you next time.' I was like, 'Who is this guy looking at me like he's going to fight me?'" the Dutch-Surinamese fighter shared to ONEFC.com.

Four months later, they will now face each other inside the Circle for the belt. While Sadikovic is a heavy puncher, Eersel will make the most of his foe's weaknesses to attempt an early finish.

"I do not think this fight will go the distance. He has a lot of holes in his style. I think I am going to [find them]. It's not that he is not good at some points, but when you [try to] put pressure on the opponent, you also open yourself up. I think I will use this to my advantage," Eersel revealed.

The Sityodtong Amsterdam representative is aware that Sadikovic fights aggressively with his punches. It remains to be seen if those strikes will knock out the titleholder, who is on an 18-fight winning streak. On the flip side, Eersel will bank on his strengths to retain the crown.

"My strength is in the power of my knee [strikes]. Also, my [fight] intelligence. While I'm fighting, I can adapt to my opponent. I have almost another person inside me that is full of aggression. And yeah, it comes out in the ring," the competitor with a 57-4 career record stated.

Aside from dominating the fight, Eersel wants to end Sadikovic's world title quest on his terms. He admitted that it has been three to four years since he's finished an opponent. This time, the Dutch-Surinamese ONE World Champion with a perfect 6-0 record in the organization did not shy away from giving a bold prediction about the fight's ending.

"We will end by knockout. I'm not one to say things that will happen in the future, but I will do it easily in the third round," Eersel said.

Watch ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic on Disney+ Hotstar, beginning with the lead card at 2:30 PM IST on Friday (April 22).  The main card broadcasts live on Disney+ Hotstar at 6 PM IST.

Source: Media Release