Nieky Holzken thought he beat Regian Eersel after dropping him in their first match

Nieky Holzken believes he did enough to defeat reigning two-sport ONE world champion Regian Eersel during their first meeting in May 2019.

Holzken is set to make his long-awaited return to the ring this Friday night as he heads to the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand for a clash with German standout Arian Sadikovic.

Ahead of their kickboxing clash, ‘The Natural’ sat down with ONE Championship to talk about his experience sharing the Circle with ONE Fight Night 11 headliner, Regian Eersel.

“They gave him the unanimous decision, but I think in the second round when I hit him with the knee in the liver, it was a clear knockout,” Holzken said.

During their first meeting, Holzken landed a vicious body blow that dropped the reigning champion, but in the end, it simply wasn’t enough in the eyes of the judges.

Given the somewhat controversial decision, the two men were matched up five months later with Regian Eersel scoring a much more decisive decision victory.

While Nieky Holzken will be busy taking on Arian Sadikovic, Regian Eersel will be tasked with taking out Russian knockout artist Dmitry Menshikov in the evening’s main event. ‘The Immortal’ will put his ONE lightweight Muay Thai world title on the line against the 27-win veteran who carries with him an impressive 19 career victories by way of knockout.

Eersel steps into the contest riding an incredible 21-fight win streak predating his tenure with ONE Championship. Should Eersel come out on top against Menskiov this Friday night, it will be his 10th-straight win under the ONE banner and 61st career victory overall.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch ONE Fight Night 11 live and for free in U.S. primetime on June 9.