“I'm more of a technical guy” – Kickboxing king Jonathan Di Bella says he enjoys training jiu-jitsu from time to time

Combat sports have been in a boom period since getting out of the dark ages in the early 2000s, and it has since been a viable source of income for many aspiring stars in the many disciplines that comprise it, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and submission grappling to name a few.

However, one sport stands atop the mountain in the form of mixed martial arts thanks to its unique mix of striking and grappling, wherein a fight can end either by knockout or via submission in just the blink of an eye.

Despite the allure of MMA, some fighters are sticking to what they know while dabbling in a little bit of grappling every once in a while, and that is exactly the case for reigning ONE kickboxing strawweight world champion Jonathan Di Bella.

Di Bella was recently a guest on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, and shared what he likes to do in his free time:

“Yeah, I’ve trained some grappling. I actually trained at Marcelo Garcia here in New York. I've been there a few times. I actually like doing jiu-jitsu alone. I like it more instead of mixing all of it [with other grappling elements]. I was having more fun learning jiu-jitsu alone because I'm more of a technical guy.”

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What has Jonathan Di Bella been up to recently?

Prior to his success under ONE Championship, Jonathan Di Bella started his career as an amateur kickboxer before having two pro fights in boxing, which he handily won, though he later admitted that he had difficulties holding back from throwing a kick then.

Just this past October, Di Bella proved that kickboxing really was in his blood after facing an eager Danial Williams - a bout that excited the Canadian star prior to it happening.

Watch the full interview with Jonathan Di Bella below: