Jonathan Di Bella on razor-close fight between Zhang Peimian and Rui Botelho: “I can fight both of them back to back”

ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella is more than willing to fight Zhang Peimian and Rui Botelho back-to-back.

ONE Fight Night 15 saw the Canadian-Italian titleholder successfully defend his crown against well-rounded martial artist Danial Williams inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium last month.

Already on the hunt for his next challenger, Di Bella had his eyes on the high-stakes kickboxing clash between former foe Zhang Peimian and Portuguese standout Rui Botelho a month later at ONE Fight Night 16 on Prime Video.

Despite going into the bout as a heavy favorite, Peimian came up short on the scorecards, suffering an incredibly close split decision loss to Botelho.

Now confused as to whether he’ll fight Rui Botelho or Zhang Peimian next, Jonathan Di Bella has a very simple solution.

“It was a close fight,” Di Bella said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “I can fight both of them back to back.”

As intriguing as that would be, we can’t see ONE Championship going that route. Instead, some fight fans have called for a rematch between the two to (hopefully) establish a clear winner and potential contender for Di Bella.

The loss is especially frustrating for Zhang Peimian, who has now lost two of his last three contests inside the Circle. Would you like to see the ‘Fighting Rooster’ get a rematch with Botehlo after his razor-thin loss to Botelho? Let us know in the comments section below.

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.