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Things have not quite gone to plan for Jonathan Di Bella this year. But the Canadian-Italian has a chance to finish 2024 strong at ONE Fight Night 26.
The Team Di Bella Kickboxing star straps the gloves for the second time this year inside the Lumpinee Stadium on December 6. Dancing alongside the former divisional king in Bangkok, Thailand, will be in-form Portuguese striker Rui Botelho.
Heading into this must-win fixture, the Quebec native lost his ONE strawweight kickboxing world title on the scales and suffered a defeat to Prajanchai PK Saenchai in their rescheduled fight for gold at ONE Friday Fights 68.
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However, not wanting to let the bitter taste of defeat linger for too long, Jonathan Di Bella is solely looking at the positive side of things ahead of fight night.
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Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA, the 28-year-old said:
"It’s been a tough year for me, a rollercoaster year with losing the belt and everything. But you know we look at the positive side, and I’m always ready to fight and ready to spend time with family after the fight. So I'm excited for that."
ONE Fight Night 26 will be available to active Amazon Prime Video subscribers live in U.S. primetime on Friday, December 6.
Jonathan Di Bella concedes he may have underestimated Prajanchai
Though he prefers to look only at the brighter side of things, Jonathan Di Bella can't help but to look back at his Prajanchai loss and see what went wrong.
While there were no major flaws from his performance inside the hallowed ring of the Mecca of Muay Thai – a fight he believe could have gone his way — the former kingpin admits he may have downplayed Prajanchai's chances a bit more than he would have liked to.
In the same interview, he went on to add:
"I was surprised that he was that good, you know. I knew that he was good, I knew that he was gonna be a tough fight, and he was one of the best in the world. So I was excited to fight him. I always wanted to fight him in his hometown."
