“I’m desperate” – Zhang Peimian locked in on Rui Botelho to earn rematch with strawweight kickboxing king Jonathan Di Bella

A rematch with reigning ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella remains the ultimate goal for Zhang Peimian.

‘Fighting Rooser’, though, understands that he must first get past a roadblock set up by Rui Botelho before he can reach his preferred destination.

Before to the two world title headliners scheduled at ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video, strawweight contenders Zhang and Botelho will warm up Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok in a sure-fire striking extravaganza.

For Zhang, this pivotal match-up may very well be his ticket to earning a rematch with the man who derailed his dreams of becoming a champion in the world’s largest martial arts organization.

The 20-year-old Chinese star said in an interview with onefc.com:

“Every fighter wants to win their match, and I’ll try my best. I’m desperate to have the world title fight, but right now I’m more focused on ONE Fight Night 16. After I win, we’ll see what happens.”

After living up to the massive hype and more, Zhang Peimian was deemed destined for gold at ONE 162 last year.

Despite a strong start against the technical Di Bella, the prodigy from Guangxi, China ran out of steam in the championship rounds. A late head-kick knockdown in the final stanza spelled the demise of Zhang, as he dropped a unanimous decision verdict after 15 minutes of action.

Armed with the lessons he learned from that defeat, ‘Fighting Rooster’ roared back with a marvelous performance against Torepchi Dongak at ONE Fight Night 8 last March.

While Zhang is considered the heavy favorite against the struggling Botelho, he knows too well not to drop his guard and underestimate his opponent this time around.

ONE Fight Night 16 will air live on US Primetime on November 3, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America