Jonathan Di Bella: Just Getting Started

You could say Jonathan Di Bella was born to fight. The proud Italian-Canadian and current One Championship kickboxing champion entered the game not long after he took his first steps. “I started training at two years old with Kyokushin karate. My dad [Angelo Di Bella] is a former three-time kickboxing world champion. I look up to him. He's my mentor and my coach now. So, I always follow in his footsteps,” Di Bella told Sherdog.com. “My first amateur fight was at 10 years old. I started competing in New York and all over America, winning the North American title at Madison Square Garden, and then fighting for Glory Kickboxing. Then I signed with One Championship and won the belt versus Zhang Peimian in Malaysia in 2022.”

Di Bella is scheduled to defend his strawweight kickboxing title against current strawweight muay thai champion Prajanchai PK Saenchai on April 5 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

As far as his chances, the undefeated Di Bella remains humble. “I feel like this fight is 50/50. He has a lot of experience in muay thai, boxing, and kickboxing,” he shared. “Even though it's kickboxing, and he is the muay thai champion, I feel it's an even fight. He has a lot of experience so that will help him a lot. And I believe he will come out strong and ready to fight in any style. I'm gonna be ready for it.”

Di Bella’s pursuit of greatness remains a family affair. He trains at Team Di Bella Kickboxing, headquartered in Montreal, Canada. “My dad is my coach. He's been coaching me very hard for this fight. I'm focusing on all areas in all of kickboxing, boxing, everything. I'm focusing on my opponent, and all his strengths and weaknesses.” He added, “I won't say anything specific because it's private. But he's going to be strong and we're ready for all of his strengths. My dad is coaching me very well for this.”

Despite already conquering several personal goals at the highest level, and being only 27 years old, Jonathan Di Bella still has even greater challenges in mind. “I really want to keep on defending my belt. That's my main goal because a true champion always defends his belt and keeps on defending,” he said. “Maybe I would like to one day do a muay thai fight and go for a muay thai championship. Also, maybe I’ll go up in division to 135 pounds to do a kickboxing title fight. But right now, I want to keep defending my 125-pound belt over and over, securing my legacy and becoming a legend in the sport, being recognized as the best strawweight kickboxer to ever live.”