"I hope he comes back" - Jonathan Di Bella expects former opponent Zhang Peimian to rebound from latest defeat

ONE strawweight kickboxing standout Jonathan Di Bella has complete confidence that Zhang Peimian will return to winning ways sooner rather than later in light of his loss to the legendary Sam-A Gaiyanghadao at ONE 169 on Nov. 8.

Speaking exclusively with Sportskeeda MMA, Di Bella shared:

"I believe in this division, we all have to fight each other [and] it's always gonna be a tough match. We're all fighting top, top guys in the division, so it's hard to say. But I feel like he stays the same. He's like he wins one, loses one, and stays the same, so I don't know what's going on with him. Maybe he's in tough fights, you know. It's normal to be in tough fights."

He added:

"In ONE Championship, it's never easy fights. So it's normal to come up short sometimes. I hope he comes back, and hopefully, he's still in the division and he's in the mix, still."

'Fighting Rooster' has struggled in his last five outings under the ONE banner, only winning two. His last victory came at Aliff Sor Dechapan's expense this past April.

Ironically enough, Di Bella kicked off Zhang's recent shaky performances by snapping his two-fight winning streak to capture the then-vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing crown in October 2022.

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Jonathan Di Bella comments on his upcoming opponent

Jonathan Di Bella expects a tough matchup against Rui Botelho at ONE Fight Night 26 on Dec. 6, inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Team Di Bella Kickboxing star recently said in an interview with ONE:

"[Botelho is a] very unorthodox fighter. I think he has a lot of power, a lot of speed, a lot of timing. He's very tricky."

ONE Fight Night 26 will air live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.