Rui Botelho eager to use Zhang Peimian as his stepping stone to a world title shot: “This fight will be the beginning of my journey”

European kickboxing champion Rui Botelho has had a rough run in recent times under the ONE Championship banner.

The Portuguese contender has been unable to turn his experience inside the Circle into results, but he is hoping to reverse his fortunes when he returns on Friday, November 3.

Through his recent run of losses, Rui Botelho has faced some of the best contenders in the division and ONE Fight Night 16 will be no different.

Stepping inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, he will go head-to-head with China’s Zhang Peimian, who brings a lot of promise and hype to the Circle each and every time he competes in ONE Championship.

The former ONE strawweight kickboxing world championship challenger has proven his ability to compete at the highest level at just 20 years of age. That isn’t something too perplexing for Rui Botelho, though.

With all of his experience competing against some of the top guys, he hopes to put a dent in the Zhang Peimian hype train by taking his foe’s momentum for himself. That being said, that is far easier said than done. More so, if you have seen the exciting prospect compete under the brightest lights before.

Regardless of the hype and promise that his opponent brings to the table, Rui Botelho is only focused on himself and what he has to gain from this fight.

Hoping that this fight will turn the tables on his run with the promotion, the Portuguese fighter spoke in an interview with ONE Championship about what is at stake this time around:

“This fight will be the beginning of my journey toward the ONE [Strawweight] Kickboxing World Title. I think a victory over him could put me in a fight for the World Title next.”

ONE Fight Night 16 will air live in U.S. primetime free of charge for existing Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America on Friday, November 3.