@ONEChampionship keeps the ball rolling with ONE Fight Night 11 on June 9th, 2023.
Regian Eersel will defend his Lightweight Muay Thai World Title and aim for his 10th victory in the headline event against Dmitry Menshikov.
Eersel has defeated prominent fighters such as Nieky Holzken and Brad Riddell. In contrast, this will be Menshikov’s debut in ONE Championship.
However, Menshikov has a lot of pedigree having knocked out most of his opponents, as he boasts 18 KOs to date.
In chief support, Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo defends his perfect record against Tommy Langaker.
In addition, the card also features the return of Superbon Singha Mawynn, kickboxer Nieky Holzken, Brit Amber Kitchen, and heavyweights Rade Opacic and Guto Inocente.
Key Quotes
Eersel on facing Dmitry Menshikov: “My thoughts are he is a very good fighter. He puts the pressure on a lot. He comes swinging with hooks.
“He has a lot of knockouts, so we’re gonna put my name to the test once again. The better my opponent, the better version of me also. Yeah, I’m excited.
Menshiko compared to previous opponents: “Well, I think each opponent has his good sides, so I’m not gonna compare him with others.
“But I always have to expect the worst, you know? So, I’m just gonna prepare for his power and mentally, I’m just gonna prepare for a war. And I think he will bring the war to me.
On his advantages over Menshikov: “My advantage is my length. I’m a little bit taller than him. I think also my experience with the four-ounce gloves and my Muay Thai experience [gives me an advantage].
“I visualize myself winning by KO, but it doesn’t matter how because winning is the most important thing. It has to be a clear, clear victory.”
Ruotolo on facing Langaker: “The first thing that excited me to grapple with him was that he wanted me, kind of. At the ADCC after-party, we exchanged words and things like that, and it kind of brought up some tensions and inspired me to fight.
On Langaker’s style: “As far as his style, stylistically, honestly, his style of jiu-jitsu doesn’t bring any specific emotion out of me. I don’t feel like his style is like, ‘Dang it, I think he could get me there or give me any surprise.
“I think it’s more so just the fact that I kind of want to beat him, in particular.”
On the challenges in the fight: “I struggle when people don’t tend to open up. It’s just hard for me to get a submission when people don’t tend to open up, kind of like my last match against Matheus Gabriel.
“I’m just hoping that Tommy is more of a guard player, like Matheus. I’m hoping he doesn’t stay all flexible and doesn’t do too much from the bottom, just doing one thing.
“I hope he keeps his options open and really brings a fight to me because if he does that, he’s getting finished.”
Langaker on facing Ruotolo: “I’ve always been very friendly to the Ruotolos. I feel kind of weird that I’m challenging them. But I never knew them very well. I just met them, and they’ve always been cool kids.
“And so I think it’s pretty cool to challenge him. And they’ve both been very praised in the community when it comes to, like, talent, and how they’ve been training and doing competitions and so on. And their development has been very good.
Prediction: “I think it’s going to be tense in the beginning. I think it’s going to be a little bit of feeling out, but immediately as somebody reacts, it’s going to be a very high pace. And I think it’s going to be a very beautiful jiu-jitsu match.
His advantages over Ruotolo: “I think my advantages are that I thrive in those scrambles. I love when the scramble comes, and I think I have a different understanding of how the scramble and the leg pummel work, as I’ve been doing crab rides for so long.
“I enjoy working hooks and utilizing these different positions, and I feel that’s going to be my biggest strength.”
Full Card
Regian Eersel vs. Dmitry Menshikov for the ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Championship – Lightweight Muay Thai
Kade Ruotolo vs. Tommy Langaker for the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Championship – Lightweight Submission Grappling
Ilya Freymanov vs. Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg – Featherweight MMA
Superbon Singha Mawynn vs. Tayfun Ozcan – Featherweight Kickboxing
Mansur Malachiev vs. Jeremy Miado – Strawweight MMA
Nieky Holzken vs. Arian Sadikovic – Lightweight Kickboxing
Artem Belakh vs. Kwon Won Il – Bantamweight MMA
Martine Michieletto vs. Amber Kitchen – Strawweight Muay Thai
Hu Yong vs. Woo Sung Hoon – Flyweight MMA
Rade Opacic vs. Guto Inocente – Heavyweight Kickboxing
Make sure you catch all the action on Amazon Prime membership if you live in the U.S. or Canada. For those outside of those terrorities, you can catch it on the ONEChampionship website.