“It was an honor to fight him” - Jonathan Di Bella grateful to have faced Thai legend Sam-A at iconic Saitama Super Arena in Japan

Canadian-Italian striking maestro Jonathan Di Bella is on cloud nine after sharing the global stage of martial arts with one of his longtime heroes, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao. The Team Di Bella Kickboxing star shared the ring inside the legendary Saitama Super Arena with the fellow former divisional king to determine the ONE interim strawweight kickboxing world champion.

For five hard rounds, the 28-year-old striker was at his technical best, cutting angles, creating spaces, delivering combinations, and making life difficult for the multi-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion.

As impressive as he was, Sam-A didn't easily raise the white flag. The 400-fight veteran fought tooth and nail with the Montreal native, though the judges' decision, a unanimous decision win to Jonathan Di Bella, was a mere formality after 15 minutes of action.

Speaking on his victory and the Thai's ferocious display, Di Bella told the assembled media at the ONE 172 post-event press conference:

"I did my best, and I knew he was going to be very strong, and I feel like he's one of the strongest hitters in the division. And out of all the guys, I thought he was one of the hardest strikers. So, yeah, it was an honor to fight him."

Watch the full post-fight presser here:

The Canadian-Italian's triumph over the Muay Thai living legend was his second successive triumph since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Prajanchai PK Saenchai in June last year.

At the same time, he set himself up for a world title unification contest against Prajanchai, which will take place later this year.

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Jonathan Di Bella says it was an absolute 'honor' to compete in Japan

Sure, a win over an icon like Sam-A was special for Jonathan Di Bella. But that wasn't the only thing he'd cherish from ONE 172. Per the Canadian-Italian, he was absolutely honored to compete for the very first time in Japan.

In the same presser, he continued:

"My background is in Kyokushin karate, which is based in Japan, so I just wanted to give a warm welcome to the fans. And you know, it's been amazing here, and it's been an honor to fight here, especially where my roots of karate are from, and that was an honor."

ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang is available to watch via replay at watch.onefc.com.