Battle-tested veteran Sam-A takes on rising star Zhang Peimian in kickboxing war at ONE 169
Multi-time ONE champion striker Sam-A Gaiyanghadao is set to return to action next month at ONE 169: Malykhin vs. 'Reug Reug' on Nov. 8, taking on rising star Zhang Peimian in what is billed to be as an explosive kickboxing showdown.
The clash between the two warriors is featured at the fight night taking place at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and airing live and for free to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Sam-A, 41, a former strawweight Muay Thai and kickcboxing and flyweight kickboxing ONE world champion enters the contest fresh from his impressive first-round knockout victory over Algerian-French fighter Akram Hamidi in September to swing back to the win column.
Waiting for him at ONE 169 is 21-year-old Zhang, who is also coming off a bounce-back win in his last fight in April when he defeated Malaysian-Thai opponent Aliff Sor Dechapan by decision.
He is now shoring up his record to earn another shot at the world title after vying for the then-vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing world title in October 2022 but losing to Canadian-Italian fighter Jonathan Di Bella.
ONE 169 card takes further form
Apart from the strawweight kickboxing clash between Sam-A Gaiyanghadao and Zhang Peimian, also added for ONE 169: Malykhin vs. 'Reug Reug' on Nov. 8 is a lightweight MMA showdown between Kade Ruotolo and Ahmed Mujtaba.
Lightweight submission grappling king Ruotolo will make his second appearance in an MMA match following his succesful debut in mixed martial arts back in June. He was a first-round submission winner over Blake Cooper. He is now going up against an opponent in Mujtaba who is out to snap a two-fight slide.
The two matches are in addition to an already-stacked card featuring four world title fights.
Headlining ONE 169 is the world heavyweight MMA championship match between three-division king Anatoly Malykhin of Russia against on-a-roll contender Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane from Senegal. Serving as co-main event is the flyweight Muay Thai title match between longtime champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and British challenger Jacob Smith.
Also on offer in the marquee event at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok is the return of double ONE world champion Christian Lee, who will defend his lightweight MMA belt against Turkish challenger Alibeg Rasulov.
Meanwhile, Filipino-American Jackie Buntan shoots for the inaugural women's strawweight kickboxing world title against Algerian-French fighter Anissa Meksen.
Other matches featured at ONE 169 is the heavyweight MMA collision between giants Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida and Amir Aliakbari, the flyweight MMA joust between Adriano Moraes and Danny Kingad, the featherweight MMA battle between Eddie Abasolo and Mohamed Younes Rabah, the strawweight Muay Thai match between Aliff Sor Dechapan and Walter Goncalves, and the bantamweight Muay Thai clash between Jake Peacock and Shinji Suzuki.