ONE Championship's next highly anticipated event, ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic is locked, loaded and ready to go. With all of the fighters slated to fight tomorrow passing COVID-19 protocols, it's off to weigh-ins and face-offs.
Much like the UFC, ONE Championship conducts official weigh-ins before the ceremonial weigh-in that happens in front of a live crowd. The biggest difference between ONE and other organizations, however, is that they do not allow weight cutting via dehydration. They conduct hydration tests alongside their official weigh-ins to make sure their fighters are healthy come fight night.
With that said, though most of the fighters made weight and passed their hydration tests, there were notable ones who didn't. South African strawweight Bokang 'Little Giant' Masunyane made weight but failed the hydration test.
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Same with ONE lightweight kickboxing champion Regian 'The Immortal' Eersel. They both had more than 12 hours to pass the test.
As for the co-main event fight, Smilla 'The Hurricane' Sundell weighed in at 127 pounds, 2 pounds over the championship fight limit. She had the same time frame to meet the weight and pass hydration.
Watch the full ceremonial weigh-ins here:
ONE Championship lightweight kickboxing champion Regian Eersel is ready to go to war against Arian Sadikovic
After the weigh-in and face-off, host Dom Lau interviewed the two men headlining the event, Arian Sadikovic and ONE lightweight kickboxing king Regian Eersel.
Sadikovic promised to keep moving forward and put pressure on the champion. Unsurprisingly, 'The Immortal' was quick to respond, saying:
"I think everybody thinks that when they are in front of me. So [laughs] let them think that."
When asked what he would do to deal with 'Game Over's' plan to push forward, Eersel had this to say:
"I have the same plan. So tomorrow's gonna be a war."
The showdown between these two fighters is most certainly a classic case of "unstoppable force meets an immovable object". If both fighters plan to keep pushing forward, then we'd expect an all-out slugfest in the middle of the cage. Be sure to tune in tonight to watch the drama and action unfold.