The Scale Strikes Again: Yet Another ONE Championship Fighter Loses Their Title During Weigh-Ins
Five ONE Championship fighters have lost their titles on the scale over the last year.
Jonathan Di Bella, Smilla Sundell, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, and Superlek have all surrendered their gold after failing to meet weight and/or hydration requirements at some point in the last 12 months. You can now add Regian Eersel to that growing list.
On Thursday, Eersel stepped on the scale ahead of his ONE lightweight kickboxing world title defense against Alexis Nicolas at ONE Fight Night 30 in Bangkok. Eersel failed his hydration test three times before finally being stripped of his 26 pounds of gold.
As of this writing, it’s uncertain if the fight will move forward with Nicolas still eligible to take home the title, or if Eersel will pull a page out of Superlek’s book and demand the fight be renegotiated as a three-round catchweight.
Regian Eersel joins a long list of ONE Championship Fighters who have lost their title during weigh-ins
Champions losing their titles before ever stepping inside the Circle has become an unsettling trend for ONE as of late. It all seemingly started around this same time last year when Jonathan Di Bella declined to weigh in for a strawweight kickboxing world title defense against Prajanchai at ONE Friday Fights 58.
A month later, Smilla Sundell was stripped of her ONE strawweight Muay Thai world championship after failing to make weight for a fight with Natalia Diachkova.
Rodtang became the most notable fighter to lose his belt on the scale after weighing in 0.5 pounds over the flyweight limit for a scheduled title defense against Jacob Smith in November. ‘The Iron Man’ was subsequently stripped of his ONE flyweight Muay Thai world championship, ending his five-year reign with the title.
Then there’s Superlek, who failed both weight and hydration for a title unification rematch with Nabil Anane at ONE 172 in Japan. But unlike Rodtang vs. Smith, where the Brit was still eligible to win the title, Superlek reportedly refused to fight Anane in anything but a three-round catchweight.
Anane ended up winning the fight via unanimous decision, but as a result of Superlek’s demands, he didn’t leave with the undisputed ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title as expected.
Despite all the drama ONE Championship’s hydration testing has caused, the promotion has remained adamant that they will not change their policy, choosing to put fighter safety above all else.
