“I want to fight them both” – Jonathan Di Bella remains open to facing Zhang Peimian and Rui Botelho ‘in one night’

Reigning and undisputed ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella is growing more and more confident in his abilities by the day. So much so that he’s made the bold claim that he can beat two top contenders in a single evening.

Di Bella recently made a statement that he would take out former opponent ‘The Fighting Rooster’ Zhang Peimian and rising star Rui Botelho in one night and that he is more than willing to fight them both.

Speaking to veteran MMA journalist Nic Atkin in a recent interview, the Italian-Canadian superstar had this to say about his potential future foes.

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Di Bella said:

“I believe that was a title eliminator fight [Rui Botelho versus Zhang Peimian]. But they had such a close fight, so I don’t mind fighting both of them in one night, maybe a month apart or something like that. Maybe a month apart would be good.”

Di Bella battled Peimian at ONE 162: Zhang vs. Di Bella in October of 2021, with the former winning via a five-round unanimous decision to capture the vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing throne.

Botelho, on the other hand, also defeated Peimian just as recently as last month, when he scored a three-round split decision over the Chinese star at ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video last November 3.

Needless to say, any matchup involving these three fighters, in particular, is going to produce fireworks.

What’s next for Jonathan Di Bella?

Strawweight is an incredibly stacked division for both kickboxing and Muay Thai, and Jonathan Di Bella will not be without options when he tries to make his next fight.

A showdown with Rui Botelho seems likely, but there are other possibilities as well. Di Bella mentioned recently that a showdown with Japanese sensation Takeru Segawa was his dream fight, and with the former K-1 champion signing with ONE Championship, this fight could certainly materialize sooner or later.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the news and updates on Jonathan Di Bella’s next fight.

About the author

Dan is an MMA writer with 10+ years of overall experience. Before his ongoing tenure at Sportskeeda, Dan got the opportunity to be at the forefront of the sport by contributing to ONE Championship and Fight Game Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

Dan’s connection to MMA started during the early days of the UFC and ONE Championship. He previously practiced boxing and ranks Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, and Fedor Emelianenko as the top five MMA fighters of all time.

He has covered several events onsite and on the ground for ONE Championship and hopes to continue doing so. He ensures that he churns out accurate articles by citing only legitimate sources and getting firsthand accounts through exclusive interviews whenever required.

Dan feels MMA fighter pay seems like an issue because it often gets compared to what fighters earn in boxing but that MMA will eventually catch up in the future.

His other interests include soccer and video games.

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Edited by Jigyanshushri Mahanta