ONE Championship: Regian Eersel Survives Early Adversary to Retain His Title at ONE 156

The main event at ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic in the Singapore Indoor Stadium, saw ONE Lightweight Kickboxing World Championship stay with Regian “The Immortal” Eersel, who defended his title in a razor-close bout against Arian “Game Over” Sadikovic.

With the win, the 29-year-old improved to a record of an impressive 58-4, whereas the tough German challenger fell to 22-4.

Both the fighters are young in their career and hence after such a close bout another meeting in the future appears inevitable.

Round by round analysis of the main event at ONE 156

Round one saw the champion use the leg kicks to start the round. The challenger used the jab to effect, as the champion used some delightful combinations. The champion ended the round with a flurry to win the round.

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The champ got his rhythm after the initial first minute of the bout. However, in the second round, Sadikovic pressured the champion and dropped him with a wonderful flying knee. The tide turned when the German fighter started moving forward and applying pressure.

The Fightschool Hannover and Team CSK fighter’s attacks overwhelmed the champion, who himself looked to attack. With the brutal knockdown and ferocious strikes, “Game Over” almost banked the fight, but he definitely won the round and had momentum going into the third.

The third round saw the challenger use the same strategy, however, the champion grabbed the challenger when he was put near the ONE Circle. The 29-year-old champion avoided his back to the Circle and showed good footwork and patience in the round. After a hard second round, the champion came back strong. However, the round was very close and could’ve gone either way.

The Championship rounds saw both fighters give it all

The championship round started with the champ eying flying knee attacks and targeting the body of the challenger, whereas Sadikovic, who has not been in the championship rounds for a long time, was keeping his gas tank checked. The lethal leg strikes from the champion answered the efficient jabs from the challenger.

The 27-year-old showed a methodical approach in a round that he perhaps steal in the last minute of the bout. Yet it was another close round. Thus, going into the fifth round, both fighters needed to stamp their authority.

Sadikovic put pressure on the champion, who used some good counters to throw off the 29-year-old. It was a matter of one big strike at the last minute of the bout. However, both fighters went blow for blow till the last bell. In the end, the judges gave their verdict, in what appeared a potential draw, with the second round being 10-8 with the knockdown.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of the champion, “The Immortal”.

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What do you think of the main event at ONE 156? Did the judges get it right? Let us know in the comments section.