Sam-A And Zhang Peimian To Clash Under Kickboxing Rules At ONE 169

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Another pivotal bout has been added to the ever-flourishing ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug card next month. Former two-division, two-sport ONE World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao faces Chinese superstar Zhang Peimian in a strawweight kickboxing encounter.

ONE Championship announced yesterday that the exciting tilt will take place on Saturday, 9 November, inside Bangkok, Thailand's Lumpinee Stadium, with the winner hoping to land a shot at gold.

In one corner, you have Zhang - undoubtedly one of the most diverse strikers in the kickboxing realm at only 20 years old. Despite his young age, "Fighting Rooster" has amassed a remarkable professional record of 18-3.

He arrived in ONE Championship in great stead when he put two wins together over Josh Tonna and Aslanbek Zikreev in 2022. Those outstanding performances granted him an opportunity to fight Jonathan Di Bella for the vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing crown.

The duo squared off at ONE 162 in September 2022, where Di Bella's prowess would allow him to outsmart the youngster across five rounds to clinch the World Title. Zhang is hungry to get back to championship qualification, but his recent outings have been mixed.

Last time around, though, he managed to return to the win column with a decisive display over Aliff Sor Dechapan at ONE Friday Fights 58 this past April to assert himself in the division's upper echelon.

Should he be able to add the legendary Sam-A to his resume, Zhang will have left no doubt about his potential in the strawweight kickboxing division. However, the legendary Thai will have his own ideas about that.

A former ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion and Muay Thai king in both the strawweight and flyweight categories, Sam-A is as decorated a striker as they get. The 40-year-old returned to ONE Championship in 2023, showing he still had what it takes.

He knocked out Ryan Sheehan in his return after two years away at ONE Friday Fights 9 in March 2023, which set up a highly anticipated clash with Thai megastar Prajanchai PK Saenchai for the interim strawweight Muay Thai belt.

Although he came up short against his compatriot that night, he bounced back in tremendous fashion to score a highlight-reel knockout over Akram Hamidi this past September at ONE Friday Fights 81.

With over 400 bouts to his name, there's certainly more time behind Sam-A than in front of him. But he's far from done collecting accolades. That said, Zhang is on the opposite end of the spectrum with plenty of time ahead of him.

And if he wants to continue showing the division what he's made of, no opportunity presents itself better than thwarting Sam-A inside Bangkok, Thailand's Lumpinee Stadium at ONE 169 next month.