“He's one of my favorite fighters” - Jonathan Di Bella honors Sam-A after beating the Thai legend at ONE 172

At ONE 172 last Sunday, interim ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella added a huge name to his resume. It's a massive achievement that came with a sense of accomplishment but also with a bit of mixed emotions.

The Italian-Canadian striker came into ONE Championship looking up at the top, where Sam-A Gaiyanghadao reigned, and aimed to fight him for his throne.

That goal quickly died when Sam-A retired and became possible again when the Thai legend came out of retirement. It all eventually came to a head with the interim title match, where Di Bella finally got the fight he was looking for.

In the post-event press conference, Di Bella talked about how he felt about the bout:

"Fighting Sam-A was a bit tough because, you know, he's one of my favorite fighters."

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“He’s one of my favorite fighters” - Jonathan Di Bella says it’s a bittersweet feeling to defeat his "idol" Sam-A

Sharing the ring with Sam-A was an honor, but it wasn't easy for Jonathan Di Bella.

Beating his biggest idol came with a strange mix of pride and discomfort. It was bittersweet - the biggest win of Di Bella's career so far and a reminder of how far he's come.

"Man, fighting a legend like that was hard," Di Bella admitted. "He’s one of my favorite fighters so it was kinda hard fighting him. But you know, when you step in the ring, it’s all business, and I gotta put that aside."

"I trained very hard for him, and it was hard to fight one of your favorite fighters but in the ring, I took it all, like everything comes out of there, and it was all business."

If you missed the action, ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang is available via replay on watch.onefc.com.