The battle for supremacy at ONE Fight Night 21 pitted Nicolas, unbeaten in 23 outings against a Dutch opponent who was taking a perfect 22-fight record into the encounter.
In the end, the decisive moment came at the start of the second round, when Eersel walked into a right hand which seemed to glance off his ear area and put him down for the count.
There was little the defending champion could do after that to close the distance, and Nicolas walked away with a unanimous decision win.
“I’m feeling good, I’m 24-0, I’ve never lost a fight, I’m happy,” Nicolas said. “I knew it [the knockdown] would happen because I worked hard with my team and that was the strategy.”
At ONE Friday Fights 58, Superbon established himself early with his jab and took advantage when his Armenian opponent walked into some solid looking shots with the knees.
That largely set the tone for the rest of the fight, although Grigorian did have the better of the fourth round, connecting with a left hook to the head which wobbled Superbon, following that with a right hand to the body.
A flurry of punches in the closing stages was too little, too late from the Armenian, and there was no doubt that his Thai opponent had the better of the encounter.
In Friday’s co-main event, Nong-O Gaiyanghadao and Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai faced off in a bantamweight fight that started slowly between the pair who have won too many Muay Thai titles to list.
Gulabdam started to let his hands go in the second round and opened a cut by Nong-O’s right eye. The veteran was firing back with elbows and kicks of his own as the action started to intensify.
Former bantamweight champion Nong-O was on the back foot on the third. Kulabdam walked through his body kicks to throw punching combinations but the fight was paused for the doctors to assess the cut by the former’s eye.
Nong-O seemed to benefit from the break and came out firing off hard body kicks. By contrast Kulabdam looked to have run out of steam and he faded from the fight in the closing stages, with his veteran opponent taking a unanimous decision win.
There was disappointment for Seksan Or Kwanmiang. The Thai veteran saw his nine fight winning streak snapped by promotional newcomer Yutaro Asahi in a decision loss that came in a catchweight contest set at 142lbs.
Earlier in the evening one handed fighter Jake Peacock made a triumphant start to his ONE Championship career. The Englishman, whose father Gavin Peacock played for Chelsea and Newcastle United, beat Kohei Shinjo by unanimous decision in a bantamweight fight.
On Saturday, Tye Ruotolo successfully defended his welterweight submission grappling title, finishing Isaak Michell with an arm in rear naked choke less than five minutes into the fight.
Younger brother, Kade Ruotolo, used the exact same submission to finish Fransisco Lo in their catchweight contest. He needed five seconds longer than his brother, with that fight finishing at the 4:48 mark.
Both walked away with US$50,000 bonuses. And it was also announced that Kade Ruotolo would be making his MMA debut in June, when he will face Ray Cooper at ONE Fight Night 22.
