Danial Williams says Zhang Peimian was beating Jonathan Di Bella before late knockdown: “Zhang got a little bit lazy”

Australian-Thai fireball Danial Williams believes that Jonathan Di Bella got “lucky” that his opponent last time around did not play his cards correctly, leaving him an opening to win.

‘Mini T’ shared this in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, giving his take on what happened in Di Bella’s match against Chinese phenom Zhang Peimian for the inaugural ONE strawweight kickboxing world title last October.

The 30-year-old Perth native said:

“I definitely had Zhang up on the cards until then, but I feel Jonathan felt better each round and he started to figure out his IQ was quite good. I felt like Zhang got a little bit lazy in the end, you know, throwing that shot and kinda leaving himself open, kinda letting himself get set up with that kick. I think he didn’t fight smart towards the end and he probably got a little tired as well.

"Where I felt Jon he was on the whole time like he was just watching his opponent and doing the better shots.”

Jonathan Di Bella went through the wringer against Zhang, who engaged the Italian-Canadian fighter in a game of back-and-forth striking on end.

The Team Di Bella Kickboxing standout, however, landed a venomous head kick with less than a minute left in the fifth and final round of the contest, which considerably helped his cause in earning a unanimous decision victory and being crowned champion.

Having studied the tape, Danial Williams vows not to make the same mistake that Zhang committed as he tries to dethrone Di Bella at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video on October 6 in Bangkok.

It will be his second stab at a kickboxing world title after falling short of getting his hands on the flyweight gold against reigning champion Superlek Kiatmoo8 back in March.

Danial Williams said that for his title fight at hand, he is coming in prepared and fully aware of what he needs to do to get the victory.

ONE Fight Night 15 will take place at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will air live in US primetime, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.