Jonathan Di Bella eager to compete in historic Japan event: “It’s one of my most favorite places to visit” 

Jonathan Di Bella looks forward to fighting in one of his "favorite places to visit."

Later this week, Di Bella will showcase his world-class kickboxing skills at ONE 172, the promotion's most stacked event of the year.

The Canadian-Italian striker has been matched up against the legendary Sam-A to determine the ONE interim strawweight kickboxing world champion.

Sunday's event goes down inside the historic Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

During an interview with ONE, Di Bella had this to say about why he's excited to fight in Japan, a country filled with combat sports history:

"It’s one of my favorite places to visit. Kickboxing is one of the main aspects of it, plus my dad’s background was Kyokushin karate, which is Japanese. That's one of our backgrounds."

Jonathan Di Bella vs. Sam-A will be one of five world title fights taking place at ONE 172 on March 23.

In the co-main event, ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion Tawanchai looks to secure a second gold belt.

The Thai superstar must defeat Japan's Masaaki Noiri for the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing strap.

The other three title fights are Superlek vs. Nabil Anane (bantamweight Muay Thai unification), Adriano Moraes vs. Yuya Wakamatsu (vacant flyweight MMA), and Phetjeeja vs. Kana (women's atomweight kickboxing).

As for the main event, Rodtang looks to spoil Takeru Segawa's homecoming showcase in a non-title flyweight kickboxing bout.

Check out the entire ONE 172 fight card below:

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Jonathan Di Bella looks to secure a rematch against two-sport king Prajanchai

In June 2024, Jonathan Di Bella lost the ONE strawweight kickboxing world title against Prajanchai, dropping the former's promotional record to 2-1.

Di Bella later bounced back with a unanimous decision win in an action-packed bout against Rui Botelho late last year.

With a win at ONE 172, Di Bella could earn an opportunity to face Prajanchai in a rematch for the unified strawweight kickboxing world title.

Meanwhile, Sam-A also has added motivation to secure a rematch against Prajanchai. The Thai legend has fought the strawweight kickboxing king twice in Muay Thai, with the latter winning both meetings.

At 41 years old, Sam-A turned back the clock in 2024 with wins against Akram Hamidi (Muay Thai) and Zhang Peimian (kickboxing).