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“The Warrior” Zhang Lipeng made a powerful first impression in his ONE Championship debut final 12 months. Now, he is able to make one other highly effective assertion in his sophomore look on the worldwide stage.
This Friday, 28 January, the Chinese language veteran squares off in opposition to his outdated pal, Ruslan “Snow Leopard” Emilbek Uulu, in a pivotal light-weight blended martial arts showdown at ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE, which broadcasts stay from Singapore.
Following a dominant run on the Chinese language blended martial arts scene, Zhang carried his momentum to the worldwide stage and utilized his grappling repertoire to defeat former ONE Light-weight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang in his promotional debut final August.
The Foshan resident intends to construct off that decisive efficiency and use his subsequent outing on the Singapore Indoor Stadium to crash the top-five rankings, however Emilbek Uulu has related aspirations.
“Snow Leopard” had a tough begin to life in ONE as a featherweight, however when he moved up a division to his pure weight class, his fortunes modified immediately. The 31-year-old Kyrgyz juggernaut beat beforehand ranked contender Pieter “The Archangel” Buist to return to the win column, and he is aware of one other victory would put him inside hanging distance of the rankings.
Zhang, nevertheless, believes his expertise are on the next stage. On this sit-down interview with ONEFC.com, “The Warrior” explains why he can end his outdated pal in Singapore, names the 2 Chinese language stars the world wants to observe, calls out a trio of light-weight stars, and extra.
ONE Championship: The final time we noticed you, Zhang, you beat former ONE Light-weight World Champion Eduard Folayang in your debut. How did it really feel to get such a giant win in your debut?
Zhang Lipeng: After all, I used to be very blissful to win my ONE debut in opposition to a former champ. The primary bout is certainly crucial, and it additionally exhibits my actual ability stage to ONE‘s boss.
However the follow-up bouts are extra essential. I nonetheless need to preserve profitable as a result of moving into the top-five [rankings] after which lastly profitable the championship is what I plan for the long run in my profession.
ONE: What was your sport plan in that bout, and did it go the best way you wished?
ZL: As soon as I knew that my opponent was a former champ, I used to be truly able to struggle for 3 rounds. At the moment, I felt that he was weaker on the bottom, so I wished to complete him after taking him down. However my opponent was actually robust and defended effectively, so the struggle ended up going to judges.
ONE: After that struggle, you known as out Shinya Aoki, and he responded by asking you to rethink the problem. What’s your response to that?
ZL: I don’t assume there’s a must rethink. Truly, I wish to struggle in opposition to everybody, particularly robust opponents. Perhaps Shinya Aoki would really feel humiliated if he accepted my problem, since I simply received one single match [in ONE so far].
I actually wish to struggle in opposition to him as a result of he’s very high-level. I watched quite a lot of his matches. His wrestling and jiu-jitsu are very highly effective, so I wish to really feel how robust he actually is. I’ve additionally been coaching for over a decade, so I want to battle with a world-class, elite [fighter] like him.
ONE: You additionally beforehand talked about Christian Lee and Eddie Alvarez as lightweights you wished to struggle. Are these two guys nonetheless in your radar?
ZL: After all, I nonetheless wish to struggle them. In any case, Christian Lee can be a former champ.
Alvarez is a former champ too, and he’s the one I picked first as a result of he enjoys a much bigger popularity. I’m additionally his fan, and like Shinya Aoki, I additionally wished to problem him.
ONE: The subsequent light-weight you’ll be dealing with is Ruslan Emilbek Uulu at ONE: ONLY THE BRAVE. What’s your first impression of him?
ZL: My first impression was that he had quite a lot of fights in China and appeared to be unbeaten to date. Plus, in reality, we each went to Xi’an Bodily Training College for coaching, so we’re fellow apprentices. And sure, I’m impressed by him.
ONE: Ruslan regarded spectacular in his final struggle in opposition to Pieter Buist, who was beforehand ranked within the prime 5. What did you consider his grappling, and do you assume it might be higher than yours?
ZL: Final time, he fought three full rounds, however I didn’t see quite a lot of strategies. He was simply speeding ahead, and I didn’t see any efficient assaults after he took down his opponent. So he truly has no benefit in floor wrestling over me.
ONE: How do you see this struggle in the end taking part in out?
ZL: Just like the final bout, I’m able to struggle three full rounds. But when I can management the sport and provides my greatest, I could possibly knock him out within the first or second spherical.
ONE: In the event you win this struggle, who would you need subsequent?
ZL: I simply hearken to the association. I [would have] simply fought two bouts, so I wouldn’t have many concepts. However I nonetheless wish to name out Shinya Aoki till he accepts my problem (laughs).
ONE: Lin Heqin has skilled with you. What’s it like coaching along with her, and the way do you are feeling about her potential within the sport?
ZL: I feel she trains very onerous, and her stand-up sport could be very robust within the [atomweight] division. However the weak point can be very apparent: her wrestling and floor sport just isn’t robust sufficient. But when she will be able to enhance them, it’s not not possible for her to enter the top-five rankings.
ONE: Are there some other Chinese language fighters who’ve caught your consideration?
ZL: Tang Kai and Xie Wei. Tang Kai and Xie Wei have many KOs in a row. Final time, I used to be on the identical card with Xie Wei, and I didn’t anticipate him to carry out so effectively. They each undoubtedly have possibilities to change into champions, so followers ought to preserve a watch out for them.
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