“All my hard work has paid off” - Zhang Peimian pleased to return to winning ways against ‘great fighter’ Aliff Sor Dechapan

Former ONE strawweight kickboxing world title challenger Zhang Peimian is back in the win column this past weekend after outpointing Aliff Sor Dechapan during their battle at ONE Friday Fights 58 inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

After his fourth win in the world's largest martial arts organization, Peimian spoke with Sportskeeda MMA and discussed how his body of work is now paying dividends. The 'Fighting Rooster' also praised his Malaysian-Thai opponent for their back-and-forth battle.

The 20-year-old Chinese star stated:

"All my hard work [has] paid off. And I think my opponent, Aliff, is a very very respectful and great fighter."

Before this win over Aliff, he received a close split decision loss at the hands of Rui Botelho in November 2023 at ONE Fight Night 16 to delay his case for a world title rematch against former ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella.

This time, he made sure to persuade the judges to give him the nod after the three-round showdown with the fellow 20-year-old phenom.

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Zhang Peimian is the first fighter to beat Aliff Sor Dechapan in ONE Championship

After four successive wins in the weekly Friday fights card, Aliff's win streak was snapped by Zhang Peimian and momentarily halted his ascent to the top of the division.

Aliff previously scored wins over Rittidet Kiatsongrit at ONE Friday Fights 13, Ratchadej Sor Petjumrat at ONE Friday Fights 24, Yangdam Jitmuangnon at ONE Friday Fights 30, and Peyman Zolfaghari at ONE Friday Fights 40.

Apart from the Sor Dechapan representative, the Shengli Fight Club athlete also has wins over Josh Tonna (in March 2022 at ONE: Lights Out), Aslanbek Zikreev (in July 2022 at ONE 159), and Torepchi Dongak (in March 2023 at ONE Friday Fights 8.