Jonathan Di Bella looks to reconnect with Italian roots as a ONE world champion: “That's a big important thing in life”

Reigning and undisputed ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella is proud of his Italian heritage, and he wants to return to his motherland to show off his new gold hardware.

Di Bella captured the highly coveted ONE Championship gold in October of last year, and has become one of the most prominent Italian fighters in the promotion. However, the 27-year-old from Montreal hasn’t visited Italy in quite a while, which is why he’s planning on making the thousand-mile journey halfway across the world and bringing the ONE belt with him.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Di Bella said:

“Yeah, I haven't been in a while because my family from there come here often now. So I saw more when I was younger. But yeah, sometimes I go here and there, not long ago I went and brought back memories from when I was a kid. That was cool. I don't actually go more often than I should. Starting this year I'm going to be going back more often to see my family because I have a lot of family here and a lot of family over there. So I go back and forth.”

Di Bella went on to explain why he thinks it’s important he connect with his Italian roots. He added:

“I feel like not a lot of people connect to their own roots. Especially if they're born in North America, I feel it's important to keep where your heritage is. I feel like a lot of people don't go back to their country or never visit the country where their parents or grandparents are from. I feel like it is important to go back and see family and to know your own culture and your own heritage because that's a big important thing in life. And I wish a lot of people would do that in every heritage, any country, any place where they’re from. I wish they could do that. I really liked doing that. I like my culture and I like my heritage. So I want to experience it more often.”

Di Bella returns to action this weekend. He is set to face Australian-Thai firecracker ‘Mini T’ Danial Williams in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Prime Video, which broadcasts live from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, October 6th.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action live and absolutely free on Amazon Prime Video.