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Jonathan Di Bella believes his upcoming opponent checks all the boxes needed to produce an exciting match with him.

The Italian-Canadian star is set to defend his ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship for the first time at ONE Fight Night 15: Tawanchai vs. Superbon on Friday, October 6, and his opponent, Danial Williams, is the perfect dance partner, according to the defending World Champion.

Jonathan Di Bella looking forward to a perfect matchup against Danial Williams

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In his promotional debut, Di Bella added another win to his unblemished record by defeating Chinese star Zhang Peimian in an exciting five-round barnburner to claim the divisional throne. Since then, he has been eager to showcase his talents in the world’s largest martial arts organization once again, and he welcomes the chance to do so against a formidable challenger. “They offered me the fight, and I accepted it right away. He’s an exciting fighter. He’s one of the best in the division,” Di Bella told ONE in a recent interview.

“Me and him are a well-matched pair because we’re both going to be aggressive. We’re both going to war, and it’s going to be a really good fight.” Williams has made a name for himself as one of the most exciting fighters on the ONE roster. In his promotional debut in April 2021, the Aussie-Thai spitfire went toe-to-toe with ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and earned the respect of fans across the globe despite suffering a tough loss.

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He then went on to collect a 3-1 record in the strawweight MMA ranks. Earlier this year, he took a late call-up to challenge Superlek Kiatmoo9 for the flyweight kickboxing strap. Despite just a week’s notice, he proved his mettle by moving up to the heavier weight class to step into action at ONE Fight Night 8 this past March. “Mini T” suffered a third-round TKO at the hands of Superlek, but he gained admiration from the martial arts world by competing in the first place.

Despite recent loss, Di Bella  is not taking Daniel Williams’s challenge lightly 

Di Bella believes his upcoming rival’s latest performance wasn’t an accurate reflection of him as a fighter, and he knows he’ll have to do significant research to prepare for Williams’ challenge. “I believe he deserves the shot because when he fought Superlek, he took it on short notice and went for the kickboxing title in a heavier division.

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He really saved the show last time. And he did well in the first few rounds,” he said. “I have to look at all the other fights and see what he’s done on the winning end. At 135 pounds on a few days’ notice against one of the best legends in the world, it doesn’t really count.”