Zhang Peimian rebuffs idea of a Rui Botelho rematch: "My only target is the vacant title"

Zhang Peimian got a much needed win this past weekend at ONE Friday Fights 58 in order to put himself back into title contention.

The Chinese striker has never been too far away in talks of who will be competing the for the strawweight kickboxing world championship. Unfortunately, his hopes of getting a second crack at the title came unglued back at ONE Fight Night 16 in November last year.

Peimian suffered what some considered to be a sizeable upset when he lost a split decision to Rui Botelho.

The outcome of the fight was highly controversial, and rather than dwelling on running this one back, Peimian appears to have moved on with his career.

After getting his hand raised on April 5, he told Nick Atkin for Sportskeeda MMA that he has no plans on attempting to run it back with Botelho:

"I don't think it's necessary to fight Botelho again because I definitely won that fight. But for my next fight, my only target is the vacant title."

Watch the full interview below:

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Zhang Peimian wants another crack at the divisional gold

It was less than two years ago when Zhang Peimian first fought for the inaugural ONE strawweight kickboxing world championship.

His clash with Jonathan Di Bella at ONE 162 put the division immediately on the map but since that close fight, the two men are yet to cross paths once again.

A win for both men this past week could have seen a rematch get put together but this wasn't to be for the Canadian-Italian superstar.

An illness prevented him from making weight and going ahead with his fight against the division's Muay Thai king Prajanchai PK Saenchai

With the title now vacant, Zhang Peimian will look to seize this opportunity with both hands to finally claim ONE Championship gold.