Regian Eersel continued his perfect run in ONE Championship at ONE on Prime Video 3 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Becoming a two-sport world champion, Eersel added to his ONE lightweight kickboxing world title by winning the inaugural ONE lightweight Muay Thai world championship. The fight with Sinsamut Klinmee came down to the fifth round where Eersel seemingly edged the fight three rounds to two, winning a split-decision on the judges’ scorecards.
With the fight being a very competitive and tense match-up, Eersel was asked about his thoughts on a rematch with Klinmee in his post-fight interview:
“In my opinion, it wasn’t a close fight. If you saw the fight, I think the first two rounds, I was really testing him. And I think from the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, I put the pressure on and you saw his face at the end of the fight.”
Despite Regian Eersel’s thoughts on how the fight played out, many fans believed the fight to be a lot closer than the champion claimed. Sinsamut Klinmee’s change of gameplan in the third and fourth rounds seemed to tie the fight up and leave the final round as a decider.
A late flurry from Eersel bloodied Klinmee’s face and was the most significant action of the round, thus giving him the split-decision win.
Watch: Highlights from the action-packed Regian Eersel vs. Sinsamut Klinmee fight for the Muay Thai belt
At ONE on Prime Video 3, the inaugural ONE lightweight Muay Thai world championship was on the line with Regian Eersel emerging victorious. Eersel became a two-sport world champion after already holding the ONE lightweight kickboxing world title.
In a tense and competitive fight, Eersel did enough to edge the decision on two of the judges’ scorecards after a strong opening and close to the fight.
The opening two rounds went Eersel’s way, forcing Klinmee to adapt his gameplan and increase his output to counter his opponent’s strategic style.
With the fight going two rounds apiece approaching the fifth round, Regian Eersel’s championship experience paid dividends for him in the dying moments of the fight. Eersel continued to push and landed combinations that swayed the fight right as the clock ran down.
Whilst Klinmee was competitive throughout the fight, his attempts to fire back at Eersel at the end of the fight only opened him up to taking more clean strikes and pushing the fight away from him.
Watch Eersel’s fifth-round rally below:
