Regian Eersel shares how he adapted and grew accustomed to ‘The Immortal’ in-ring persona

Way before Regian Eersel became ‘The Immortal’ and became literally immortal inside the ONE circle and ring, the Amsterdam-based athlete wasn’t sure what to make of his moniker.

The nickname, which was bestowed on him by his close friends and training partners largely due to his endless gas tank and aggressiveness, never quite sat with the Dutch-Surinamese athlete at the start.

But he soon understood just why he was handed the nickname during the initial days of his journey.

Ahead of his ONE Fight Night 11 world title defense against Dmitry Menshikov this Friday, June 9, Eersel shared how he became accustomed to ‘The Immortal’ in an interview with Sensai Sam.

He said:

“It came from my days as an amateur because when I start fighting, it seems like I never get tired. I wanted to sort of challenge the opponent like ‘Why are you still standing there, you know?’ Since then, my friends started calling me ‘De Onsterfelijk’ (translation for The Immortal in Dutch).”

He then carried that moniker to his sem-pro days around the early 2000s, just a couple of years before 300 hit the shores of Hollywood in 2006. And after catching the movie, that was when Regian Eersel decided to incorporate the mask that the Immortals spotted in the film.

Regian Eersel said:

“I was like ‘Eh, the mask looks really cool, you know’. And I was like okay, I want to use the mask, first, we printed it on our t-shirts, and then I became a pro. So I put on the mask, I walk up, I start walking one, two steps, and everybody [went ecstatic], they started screaming, taking their phones, taking pictures, videos. So yeah, that’s the story.”

Watch the full interview here:

Whether or not he walks out of the ring at ONE Fight Night 11 with a win or not, one thing’s for sure – Regian Eersel will enter the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, ready to carry on his persona as ‘The Immortal'.

Fans in North America with an Amazon Prime membership can catch all the action on the card live and for free.