“He's been dominating” - Jonathan Di Bella commends veteran Sam-A for discovering the fountain of youth 

Jonathan Di Bella has his eyes on interim gold, but standing in his way is a living legend who refuses to fade - Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, who has a long-lived career spanning 30 years and over 400 bouts.

The Italian-Canadian striker is slated to square off with Sam-A for the ONE interim strawweight kickboxing world title at ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang, taking place on March 23 at the iconic Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

And he knows exactly who he's dealing with.

He told ONE Championship:

"I was not really totally surprised because I saw he's been dominating in the last few fights and he dominated Zhang in a kickboxing rules fight. He dominated him and he showed that he's still up there and he showed that he's in contention for a title too."

At 41, Sam-A is still wrecking top-tier talent, proving time and again that his fight skills haven't aged a bit. After years at the top, and even a brief retirement, he is back in the game and still as much of a threat as ever.

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"He has so much experience" - Jonathan Di Bella amazed by battle-tested Sam-A's incredible career longevity

Facing Sam-A means going up against a fighter who's been through every scenario available. Di Bella may be sharp, but he knows the experience gap in this fight is massive.

"He's been there forever," he said. "He has so much experience. He has like 400 fights more than me, so he's gonna have a crazy experience edge. He's not going to have many weaknesses, so I will play it out in the first round."

Jonathan Di Bella vs Sam-A Gaiyanghadao is one of five title fights happening at ONE 172 on March 23. Tickets for ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang are available here. Watch live on PPV at watch.onefc.com.