“He comes to fight” - Jonathan Di Bella excited by the prospect of fighting dangerous Danial Williams

Reigning ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Di Bella is impressed with the dangerous ‘Mini T’ Danial Williams, and is excited about the possibility of facing him in the near future.

Italian-Canadian kickboxer Di Bella made a grand entrance at ONE Championship in 2022, claiming the vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing world title in his promotional debut. He defeated China’s Zhang Peimian by unanimous decision at ONE 162 in October to join ONE’s roster of champions.

Jonathan Di Bella is now girding for a first world title defense, which could be against Williams, who caught the attention of the champion for his aggressive style of fighting.

He particularly cited Williams’ performance against ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in 2021, where Australian Williams went all out and made a good account of himself despite losing by unanimous decision.

Di Bella shared his thoughts on Williams to SCMP MMA, saying:

“He (Williams) comes to fight. He doesn’t come to play. He comes to fight, that’s like, that’s what I want. I want guys to come fight, I don’t want guys to just stand there. This is a high-level league in ONE Championship. These are high-level strikers, so this will be a crazy fight.”

He added:

“I don’t know if you guys saw the fight with Rodtang. It was Fight of the Year in 2021. So me and him will be Fight of the Year in 2023 for sure.”

Check out the video below for the full interview:

A potential showdown between Di Bella and Williams won't be hard to set up as ‘Mini T’ has made it known that while he has been competing in mixed martial arts of late, one of his goals is to win a striking title.

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Danial Williams feels he could beat Jonathan Di Bella at his own game

Not short on confidence, on-a-roll Australian fighter ‘Mini T’ Danial Williams believes he can take the ONE strawweight kickboxing world title belt away from reigning champion Jonathan Di Bella if given the opportunity.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Williams said he likes his chances vis-à-vis Di Bella, having seen the way the champion fights and finding some holes in it.

Jonathan Di Bella said:

"I want to make history in this division. I’ve seen the title fight, I think the same thing. Confident, I’ve seen some holes in the game where I have my style that can match up to him [Jonathan Di Bella]. It’s possible. If they give me a kickboxing match next, that would be cool."

Williams has been competing in mixed martial arts the past year, racking up an impressive 3-1 record. However, winning a striking world title remains one of his goals moving forward.

Jonathan Di Bella, meanwhile, announced his arrival at ONE Championship the best way possible, winning the vacant strawweight kickboxing world title in his promotional debut in October.