“I Want To Be the Face To Make It Big in North America” – Jonathan Di Bella Shares His Lofty Goal for Kickboxing Ahead of First World Title Defense

ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Di Bella is gearing up for his first World Title defense, but his overall goals go bigger than just keeping the coveted strap.

This Friday, October 6, Di Bella will face Danial Williams in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov inside the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Jonathan Di Bella shares ambitions for the sport before first title defense

The undefeated Italian-Canadian striker made a huge statement in his promotional debut by taking out rising Chinese star Zhang Peimian at ONE 162 in October 2022 to claim the vacant kickboxing strap. The pair had an exciting five-round war that he thinks would have endeared fans in North America to the sport. In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Di Bella revealed that he wants to stay on top of the division to show more people the beauty of kickboxing. “My main goal is to defend the kickboxing title as much as possible and to bring it to the United States because kickboxing is not as big in the United States,” he said.

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“I want to be one of the main ones to bring kickboxing into the United States, especially with the Zhang fight. If it ever happens, I would love it to happen in the States because that’s a great fight for American fans. “I believe they deserve that, especially to introduce them to high-level kickboxing, because it hasn’t been done in ONE yet. They didn’t do a kickboxing fight on the last Denver card. So hopefully in the next US show, I get to do that fight.” A rematch with Zhang would certainly be exciting to see anywhere in the world, but first, Di Bella must get past Williams.

‘Mini T’ is a fan-favorite in ONE for his exciting fighting style, and he has expressed his desire to become a multi-sport World Champion. He’s won three MMA contests and has gone toe to toe with two of the best strikers in the game today – Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Superlek Kiatmoo9. He’ll be fighting for gold in his natural weight bracket for the first time, which could be his best chance at winning a World Title, so he’ll be coming in with all guns blazing this Friday.

Di Bella opens up on his goals and the importance of ONE Fight Night 15

Di Bella is undoubtedly focused on his Aussie-Thai foe’s threat, as he wants to make kickboxing bigger and be the face of the sport in his side of the world, so a win is of paramount importance at ONE Fight Night 15. “Other than being a World Champion, that was my main goal from day one. That’s my other goal, to make it big,” he said.

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“I want to be the face to make it big in North America. I want people to think about kickboxing. When they mention kickboxing, I want them to think of me and what I’ve done for the sport.” ONE Fight Night 15 airs live on Prime Video on Friday, October 6. The action begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and is free-for-all Prime Video subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.