ONE Fight Night 11: What We Learned After This Past Weekend’s Thriller In Bangkok

This past Saturday, 10 June, combat sports fans were treated to another night of elite martial arts action when ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov kicked off inside the famous Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

During the course of the night, critics were silenced, positions were strengthened, and World Title tenures continued to prosper. Here's what we learned when the smoke cleared at the iconic combat sports stadium.

The evening's main event saw the return of Regian Eersel, whose untouchable run - as well as his ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Championship - was on the line when he met Russian slugger Dmitry Menshikov.

Eersel needed just 46 seconds to get the job done last Saturday, entering God mode with a clean left hook to the Russian's temple that rendered him unfit to continue. The victory saw "The Immortal" remain unblemished in ONE, taking his overall winning streak to 22 in a row.

The Surinamese striker has beaten everyone in front of him, but an opportunity to defend his ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Title opened up when a former foe looked better than ever that same evening.

Arian Sadikovic met kickboxing veteran Nieky Holzken on the night's main card. He managed to outstrike the Dutch dynamo over the course of three rounds to get back in the win column. The outing showcased an evolved Sadikovic, and his win may have warranted him another shot at Eersel.

Elsewhere on that night, former ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion Superbon Singha Mawynn silenced the critics in responding to January's World Title loss to Chingiz Allazov in vintage fashion against Tayfun Ozcan.

Superbon looked to have found a new level when he stepped inside the ring last weekend against the Turkish "Turbine." The Thai phenom made short work of his opposition with a tremendous counter left high kick at 1:46 of the second frame.

With the stunning knockout in the bag, legendary Superbon reasserted himself in the ONE World Title picture, but he'll have to wait a little longer for his opportunity at gold.

That's because the newly crowned champion Allazov is set for his first ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Championship defense at ONE Fight Night 13 on Saturday, 5 August, against Marat Grigorian.

While Superbon will be open to face whoever walks away victorious on that night, there will be more personal implications at hand should Allazov remain the featherweight kickboxing division's king.

Another standout performance at ONE Fight Night 11 inside Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in the Thai capital came when Ilya Freymanov met Mongolian Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg in featherweight mixed martial arts action.

Freymanov came in fresh off a one-round demolition job of former two-division king Martin Nguyen in his promotional debut last October at ONE Fight Night 2, but this past weekend he was faced with the unorthodox task of overcoming the hungry Mongolian.

However, the battle allowed fans to see another side of Freymanov. The Russian found himself stung by a flurry of Zoltsetseg's power and on his back within 30 seconds of the opening frame.

Having managed to recover swiftly, Freymanov turned the fight on its head when he put the Mongolian on the mat to sink in a rear-naked choke at 2:18 of round one and cement himself inside World Title talks.

But he'll have to remain patient for the outcome of the eventual rematch between ONE Featherweight World Champion Tang Kai and former king Thanh Le later this year before he gets his opportunity.

Source: Media Release