“He’s gonna make life difficult” - Johan Ghazali believes Jonathan Di Bella’s youth will trump Sam-A’s vast experience

Rising star Johan Ghazali likes the chances of Jonathan Di Bella against veteran Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in their scheduled kickboxing joust later this month. He believes the former's youth will play a key role in trumping the latter's experience come fight night.

The two former ONE strawweight kickboxing world champions will vie for the division's interim belt at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on March 23. It is one of five world title fights on offer at the marquee event happening at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

On being asked for his thoughts on the contest, Ghazali told Sportskeeda MMA that Di Bella being the younger fighter between the protagonists should work to his advantage.

'Jojo' said:

"Yeah. His youth, his movement, his gas tank, his combinations, his everything. I think he’s gonna make life difficult for Sam-A. Based on experience, legacy, Sam-A owns him. But I think in current form, it’s hard to look past Jonathan Di Bella."

Entering 172, both Di Bella and Sam-A are coming off victories, solidifying their standing as contenders in the strawweight kickboxing lane.

The 28-year-old Italian-Canadian fighter was defeated by Rui Botelho of Portugal in his last match in December. Sam-A, 41, for his part, also won by decision over Zhang Peimian of China in November, his second win in a row.

ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang marks the return of ONE Championship to Japan for the second straight year and is available live on pay-for-view via watch.onefc.com.

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Jonathan Di Bella takes note of Sam-A's resurgent form of late

Jonathan Di Bella is aware of the resurgent form that Sam-A Gaiyanghadao is showing of late and is expecting a tough challenge in their showdown at ONE 172 this month in Japan.

The Montreal, Canada native shared this in an interview with Story of the Fight, pointing out that despite being in the late stage of his illustrious career, Sam-A remains a handful and is actually on a roll, winning back-to-back matches convincingly.

Di Bella said:

"You know, he's a legend, and now he's back again on a killing streak. And, yeah, it's even better fighting him, it turned out to be better."

Check out the full interview below:

At ONE 172, Di Bella is out to secure a win that will move him a step closer to returning to the strawweight kickboxing throne. He was stripped of the belt after missing weight in his title match against Thai superstar Prajanchai PK Saenchai early last year. The said match was rescheduled to June 2024, but Di Bella lost by decision and was unable to reclaim the then-vacant belt.