ONE Lightweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion Regian Eersel will defend his title against George Jarvis at ONE Fight Night 34 on August 2 at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium, but his journey to the top nearly ended before it truly began.
The 32-year-old Dutch-Surinamese’s career faced its darkest moment early in his professional journey when financial struggles and lack of opportunities pushed him to consider retirement despite being undefeated.
Eersel found himself in an impossible situation that threatened to derail his promising career.
“A long time ago, I think I was 19 or 20, I was undefeated in the pros. I cut ties with my manager because he wasn’t booking me fights, or he’d book fights for me but the opponents canceled the fight or didn’t want to fight me,” Eersel recalled.
The period that followed became the most challenging of his life, with the 6-foot-2 striker facing months without competition or income.
“For eight, nine months I didn’t have a fight. It was the worst period of my life because I had no income, no fights. At some moment, I was thinking, ‘Oh, man, I can’t do this anymore. No fight, no income,'” he explained.
The desperation reached its peak when Eersel approached his coach with the intention of walking away from the sport entirely.
“I told him [coach] I wanted to quit because there is no point for me [to train] anymore. I have no money, no fights, no income,” Eersel said.
His coach’s response proved to be the turning point that saved his career and changed his life forever.
“He said, ‘Listen, you have so much talent. The fights and the money will come. You just need to have patience.’ He told me he’d pay my rent that month so I can train for the month,” Eersel revealed.
That act of faith and financial support allowed Eersel to continue pursuing his dreams.
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