ONE Fight Night 8: Zhang Peimian admits to not scouting his next opponent

Zhang Peimian doesn’t know much about his opponent this Friday night, but he knows it’s his job to get the W regardless.

The ‘Fighting Rooster’ will look to get back into the win column after having his two-fight win streak snapped at the hands of Jonathan Di Bella at ONE 162 in October. Zhang Peimian will welcome ONE Championship newcomer Torepchi Dongak to the Circle as the promotion presents ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video.

Ahead of his return, the 19-year-old standout revealed that he doesn’t know much about his opponent, but in the end, his job remains the same.

“It is really hard to dig up any information about him, so I can’t tell whether he’s good or not,” Peimian told the promotion. “But anyway, we accept whoever gets in front of us we will take him out and keep on chasing the gold.”

Searching Dongak’s name on popular combat sports search engines such as Tapology and Sherdog turns up little info on the 20-year-old Russian. Per the official ONE Championship website, Dongak is a Russian kickboxing champion and a two-time Junior Kickboxing World Champion.

Despite the sparse details, we know that ONE Championship plays host to some of the biggest and best combat sports fighters from around the world. If the promotion is willing to give Dongak the opportunity to showcase his skills on its global stage, we’re certain there is a very good reason.

---

Zhang Peimian wants another crack at Jonathan Di Bella’s ONE world championship

Zhang Peimian has hopes of becoming China’s youngest combat sports world champion. He nearly achieved that goal late last year after earning an opportunity to challenge ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion, Jonathan Di Bella. Unfortunately, ‘Fighting Rooster’ came up short in his first ONE world title bid.

But he hopes to get back on the road to title contention with a win this Friday night against a dangerous Russian debutant.

"[I want] Di Bella because he holds my belt. No one gets me more interested than him," Peimian said.

While Jonathan Di Bella is still relatively new to ONE Championship, the Canadian-Italian fighter has looked practically unstoppable. Boasting an undefeated record of 11-0, Di Bella is on the fast track to becoming one of the promotion’s brightest stars. Additionally, he's already getting the attention of other ONE standouts, including Danial Williams.

If Zhang Peimian hopes to get another shot at ONE gold, he’ll need to start with a big win this Friday night at ONE Fight Night 10. Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can watch live and for free in U.S. primetime.