Prajanchai PK Saenchai joined rare company last weekend after securing gold in a second sport. At ONE Friday Fights 68 last Friday, the Thai star defeated former world titleholder Jonathan Di Bella to claim the vacant ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship.

The new champion was involved in a tightly contested main event pairing inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Competing in front of a mostly friendly home crowd, Prajanchai felt some pressure to secure a win and is relieved that he delivered.

Prajanchai carried expectations of entire Thai fanbase into Di Bella bout

Speaking to the press in the post-fight press conference, Prajanchai revealed the strong emotions he felt going into the bout: “I’m very happy. I feel like it’s such a relief because before I felt like there was pressure for me to hold the expectations of Thai people to get this belt for all the Thai people. So right now I have achieved it and I feel relieved,” he said.

As expected, the pair delivered a classic over five rounds of action and both appeared confident that they did enough to secure the victory. However, only one of them was to be named a victor, and all three judges agreed that Prajanchai was the better man on that night.

The Thai star gave credit to his opponent for putting up a good fight while also claiming that he could have performed better. While fans in the arena were delighted with the results, some fans online thought the Italian-Canadian should not have come up short. And Prajanchai is on-board for a rematch with the Di Bella.

The double-champ ready to rematch Di Bella

Given the action packed nature of their bout, Prajanchai said he is willing to meet Di Bella again in a rematch.

“I think I did well, but maybe not the best, maybe not well enough. Jonathan Di Bella is a very good fighter. He’s one of the top fighters in the world. So of course the fight wasn’t going to be easy. But I think I did enough. But there’s room for improvement, of course,” he said.

As always, the decision of whether, or when the fans will see Prajachai and Di Bella take each other on rests with the promotion’s CEO, Chatri Sityodtong.

“If there would be a chance for a rematch, if [ONE Championship CEO] Chatri Sityodtong thinks that it’s suitable, then of course I would accept the fight. I am now the champion and I cannot deny anyone a fight. I would fight anyone and I would be happy with a rematch, because as I said, he’s one of the top fighters in the world. So why not?” he said.

Now that he reigns supreme in the strawweight striking divisions, he will have an even bigger target on his back with contenders from both Muay Thai and kickboxing eager to get their shot at gold.

However, Prajanchai remains unfazed and welcomes any challenge that would be presented to him in any sport. “I would like to not pick and choose which one I would like to defend first because any title would be great. As long as there’s an opponent for me, I will accept any fight,” he added.