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Former ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella is thrilled about his upcoming fight on March 23 at ONE 172, where he takes on Thai legend Sam-A Gaiyanghadao.
The pair do battle for the ONE interim strawweight kickboxing world title at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
In his most recent appearance on the Story of the Fight YouTube channel, Di Bella revealed that fighting Sam-A has been his dream match and one of the main reasons why he took his talents to the world's largest martial arts organization, as he stated:
"It is a dream fight of mine. When I signed with ONE, he was a champion, you know, and my goal was to fight him. And I've been watching him forever, so my goal was to fight him. I was excited to fight him, and then he retired, and I was so mad. I'm like, Ah, I missed my chance to fight him."
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Watch Jonathan Di Bella's full interview here:
Heading into this matchup of former strawweight kickboxing kings, both fighters are coming off victories from their previous outings, with Di Bella unanimously beating Rui Botelho in December 2024 at ONE Fight Night 26.
On the other hand, Sam-A is fresh off a masterful performance against Zhang Peimian in November 2024 at ONE 169 where he also secured a unanimous decision nod from the judges.
Jonathan Di Bella hyped up for being a part of the stacked ONE 172 card in Japan
Apart from the fact that he will be facing an icon in Sam-A, the Canadian-Italian striking star is also hyped up about his inclusion in the loaded ONE 172 event in Japan.
According to Jonathan Di Bella, it would be a crazy experience for him, especially during the fight week, as he explained during his interview with Story of the Fight:
"When I saw I was fighting on that card, I was like, 'Oh, I'm playing on a big card.' It's going to be crazy. And I'm already thinking about what's going to be there during the event week, fight week, and stuff."
Fans can watch ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang live via watch.onefc.com. The exciting card goes down inside the Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
