The 'most important thing' Zhang Peimian learned from Jonathan Di Bella fight

'Fighting Rooster' Zhang Peimian competed for the ONE strawweight kickboxing world title against striking mastermind Jonathan Di Bella. The 19-year-old athlete lost the bout, but says he learned a lot in the process.

The Chinese striker spoke to ONE Championship in an interview and remarked on the world championship fight:

"The most important thing I learned from it is that anything could happen. Until the bell is ringing, you should just never think like, ‘Oh, I’ll go hard in these three rounds and then I’ll play safe in these two.’ That won’t work when you are fighting for championships. Always go hard like you are losing it. That’s what I learned."

Zhang Peimian is now planning to work his way back to a shot at divisional king Jonathan Di Bella. The first step is earning a win in his upcoming bout on March 24 at ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video.

China's 'Fighting Rooster' is booked to face Russia's Torepchi Dongak. ONE Fight Night events are broadcast live and for free in North America via Prime Video.

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Zhang Peimian aiming to fight Jonathan Di Bella soon

China's Zhang Peimian wants to fight strawweight kickboxing king Jonathan Di Bella again soon. With a few more wins, he is hoping he can qualify to fight for the throne.

'Fighting Rooster' explained the path forward in an interview with ONE Championship, saying:

“[I want] Di Bella because he holds my belt. No one gets me more interested than him ... To get another world title shot, I have to put together a winning streak. So this fight, or the next, or maybe if the promotion thinks I need three more shots before I get the rematch, I must win them all. We are targeting the belt, and everything before that is just a stumbling block.”

Zhang Peimian is looking to fight the king, but first needs to earn a win in his next bout. At ONE Fight Night 8 on March 24, he must defeat the Russian Torepchi Dongak to have any chance of facing Jonathan Di Bella once again in the future.