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As the ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion, Jonathan Di Bella is proud to represent his Italian and Canadian heritage.
However, when he steps inside the circle, he isn’t just looking to make his family, friends, and supporters proud of what he has accomplished – he is looking to grow the sport on a global scale.
Fighting out of New York City, Di Bella hopes to be a crucial figure in making kickboxing have a bigger imprint in the Western Hemisphere.
For some reason, the sport hasn’t ever caught fire in this massively untapped market but by having more representatives competing at the highest level, this could be the breakthrough that it has been waiting for.
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The 27-year-old world champion certainly would have won some fans over, producing a fight-of-the-year contender on his ONE Championship debut against Zhang Peimian.
Next time out at ONE Fight Night 15, the champion will look to defend his title for the first time in a match-up that is sure to produce another great contest for the fans.
Facing Danial Williams on October 6 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Di Bella hopes that he can continue to grow his own profile and the sport as a whole with his next match-up.
In an interview with Karyn Bryant on fight night, the defending champion spoke about ONE Championship’s growing footprint in the United States thanks to their partnership with Amazon Prime Video which puts him on a bigger platform than ever before:
“I hope that I'll be fighting more on Prime, so the North American team will be watching more often and get the exposure to kickboxing and the recognition that kickboxing deserves.”
Following up on that, Jonathan Di Bella said that he believes this fight could be the fuse-lighting moment that kickboxing has been waiting for in the Western world:
“I think after this fight kickboxing will explode in North America – after me and Danial’s fight. Fans should just tune in because it will shock all MMA fans and all the martial arts fans around the world especially in North America.”
Watch the full interview below:
ONE Fight Night 15 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.
