Johan Ghazali says Jonathan Di Bella’s energy will push him in the latter rounds against Thai legend Sam-A in Japan

Johan Ghazali is confident Jonathan Di Bella can stage a late-surge when he faces off against Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in ONE Championship's return to Japan.

Di Bella will take on the Thai legend for the ONE interim strawweight kickboxing world title on the stacked ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang card on March 23 at the historic Saitama Super Arena.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Ghazali said Di Bella could be in for a tough test in the early stages of his match against Sam-A.

Ghazali, however, said that the former ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion's better gas tank would be critical in catching Sam-A in the championship rounds.

"Maybe Jonathan Di Bella will struggle in the first round or the second round, but if the fight carries on past that, I think Jonathan Di Bella will start collecting his points with his strikes and all," said Ghazali.

Di Bella is one of the fastest strikers on the planet, but he doesn't overly rely on his speed to get the job done.

The Italian-Canadian striker is a cunning hunter who would stalk his opponents until they fold under immense pressure.

Di Bella captured the vacant ONE strawweight kickboxing world title, a strap Sam-A vacated due to his earlier retirement, when he outclassed Zhang Peimian at ONE 162 in Kuala Lumpur.

After a successful defense against three-sport phenom Danial Williams, Di Bella relinquished the gold to ONE strawweight Muay Thai world champion Prajanchai PK Saenchai in Bangkok.

Di Bella has since returned to the win column when he dominated Rui Botelho at ONE Fight Night 26 in December 2024.

ONE 172 is available live on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.

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Jonathan Di Bella admits Sam-A Gaiyanghadao is his dream opponent

Jonathan Di Bella won't just get a shot at interim gold in Japan, but he'll also face one of his favorite fighters of all time at the hallowed Saitama Super Arena.

In an interview with the Story of the Fight, Di Bella admitted that Sam-A Gaiyanghadao is one fighter he would want to face in a dream match.

That dream will be a reality when they step inside the cage at ONE 172.

"The answer to [the] question, I got asked the other day, and I still didn't answer it. But right, you know, what a dream fight of mine is Sam-A. Sam-A is this dream fight of mine."

Sam-A is one of the greatest fighters in history and is a former ONE flyweight Muay Thai, strawweight kickboxing, and strawweight Muay Thai world champion.