‘A Hard One To Beat’ – Jonathan Di Bella Reflects On His Perfect Year, Looks Ahead To 2026
Few people in combat sports had a better 2025 than Jonathan Di Bella.
The Italian-Canadian superstar authored a year for the ages, beating a pair of living legends to claim the ONE Interim Strawweight Kickboxing World Title and then unifying the division’s gold in a redemption story that captivated fans around the globe. He even won the 2025 Kickboxer of the Year honor.
But the magic didn’t stop inside the squared circle. Di Bella also got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, capping a 12-month stretch that transformed both his professional and personal life.
Still, the 29-year-old Montreal native refuses to rest on his laurels. With another year ahead and bigger challenges on the horizon, Di Bella believes his greatest moments are still to come.
He said:
“It was a perfect year, but it could have been even better. There’s always room for improvement.
“It’s going to be a hard one to beat, I’m not gonna lie. I’ve been thinking about it. This year, everything went right. It was still a hard year because I still put it in the hard work, but all the work paid off. But I don’t want to make it one and done. I want to have more years like this. I know I have more people coming after me, so I gotta keep focused, and I’m excited.”
Di Bella didn’t wait long to begin his World Title campaign.
Just hours after the ball dropped to celebrate 2025, the Italian-Canadian striker was already back in the gym, preparing for the opportunity of a lifetime – a clash with former two-sport, two-division ONE World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao for the ONE Interim Strawweight Kickboxing World Title.
Three months of relentless training paid dividends when Di Bella decimated the Thai icon at ONE 172 in March, claiming the interim belt inside Japan’s Saitama Super Arena. But the victory carried deeper meaning than just gold. Sam-A had been a childhood idol whom Di Bella watched religiously while coming through the ranks.
The Montreal resident shared:
“It’s hard because you’ve seen them fight and you cheer for them when you’re watching them, and especially Sam-A. He’s southpaw like me, so I studied some things. I studied his left kick to the body, I studied some of his techniques, and then, a few years later, when I’m older, I got to fight him. It’s crazy. It was just a surreal moment.”
With the interim belt secured, Di Bella turned his attention to matters of the heart.
In April, just weeks after defeating Sam-A for the gold, the Italian-Canadian “Romeo” proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Emely Elizabeth Rodriguez, on a private beach in Miami. The proposal unfolded perfectly – flowers arranged in a heart, the ring ready, and Rodriguez completely surprised by the intimate gesture.
But when it came time to discuss wedding plans, his fiancée had a special request. Before they could celebrate their union, Di Bella had unfinished business to settle.
“Go beat Prajanchai, and then we can discuss about the wedding.”
With his fiancée’s blessing, Di Bella turned his attention to the only man who had ever defeated him – two-sport ONE World Champion Prajanchai PK Saenchai.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher when they met at ONE Fight Night 36 this past October inside Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Stadium.
Di Bella, who had been training with longtime ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Champion and former divisional kickboxing king Regian Eersel, wasn’t just fighting to unify the ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title. He was fighting for redemption, for validation, and to prove that their first encounter hadn’t told the complete story.
From the opening bell, the Italian-Canadian superstar came out firing with precision and purpose. His crisp jabs, straight left punches, and fierce leg kicks disrupted Prajanchai’s rhythm early, and his sharp footwork allowed him to control the range throughout the five-round battle. Even when the Thai pushed hard in the championship rounds, Di Bella’s conditioning and output never wavered.
When the final bell sounded, all three judges agreed – Di Bella had done enough to claim the unanimous decision victory.
The victory, which made him the undisputed ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion, represented everything he had worked for, and doing it in Prajanchai’s hometown made the triumph even sweeter.
Di Bella said:
“I had to step it up because he’s the only guy that beat me on paper, and I really wanted the revenge. I wanted to get the belt back, and it meant a lot to me, so in the moment when I won, I felt great. I felt really relieved, and it was one of the most meaningful fights for me to win.
“Everybody talks about him like he’s a legend, everybody respects him in Thailand and right now, he’s one of the most famous and most respected fighters in kickboxing and Muay Thai. So, it was a cool moment, especially beating him in his backyard. It meant a lot.”
Di Bella Embraces The Future
Even though 2025 was a magical year, Jonathan Di Bella is turning his attention to the future.
Now that he has settled his score with Prajanchai and unified the ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title, the Italian-Canadian dynamo and his fiancée are searching for the perfect wedding venue.
The couple is exploring options across Montreal, New York, and Miami – three cities that have played significant roles in Di Bella’s journey as both a fighter and a person. While the exact location remains undecided, the timeline is taking shape.
He said:
“We’re not sure yet. It will be the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027.”
Wedding plans won’t keep Di Bella away from competition for long, though.
The undisputed ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion has been celebrating the holidays with family and staying active through seminars, but he expects to return to the ring very soon.
While no specific opponent has been named, Montreal’s finest knows that whoever stands across from him will represent the division’s elite – and he welcomes that challenge. At this level, easy fights don’t exist.
Di Bella shared:
“There’s never going to be an easy fight for me. [I’m going to have] all top-level fights, so there’s going to be hard fights. My goal is just to keep it going, keep the belt, and just beat everybody who ONE Championship puts in front of me. I want to keep getting my name out there and score more performances, great performances.”
One name that continues generating buzz on social media is ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka Yoshinari, who captured ONE Championship’s 2025 Muay Thai Fighter of the Year award.
The Japanese sensation is riding a 40-bout winning streak, and fans have begun clamoring for a potential super-fight between the two titleholders. While Nadaka would need to move up in weight and switch sports to challenge Di Bella, the Italian-Canadian striker is more than willing to accommodate.
In fact, he relishes the opportunity to test himself against the atomweight division’s most dangerous striker.
Di Bella said:
“I always look at people bigger than me, but if he wants to come to strawweight, 100 percent, it would be a great fight. I already saw some people saying on social media that it would be a great fight.
“He’s really fast. He’s very technical, so I love those type of matchups. Anybody can win when you compete at the highest level. Anybody can win. So, I got to be on my A game, for sure. It could be another one of my toughest fights, but I’ll be ready.”
Di Bella’s immediate focus remains defending his ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title, but the long-rumored move to Muay Thai continues lingering in the background.
The Montreal native has always believed his skill set translates perfectly to “the art of eight limbs,” particularly his elbow work and clinch game.
However, his team wants him to get more Muay Thai training sessions in before making the move. When they give him the thumbs up, Di Bella will be ready – and he already knows exactly who he wants to face.
He said:
“If an opportunity comes like that, I’ll think about it, for sure. I would like to fight Muay Thai. I really want to do it because I believe I have great elbows and more weapons in Muay Thai. My team doesn’t want me to do it yet. They want me to get practice, but as soon as they give me the green light, I’ll do it.
“If I have to fight Muay Thai, I’d want to fight Prajanchai. He’s the best in the world. I just want to fight the best in the world. That’s my goal. My goal is to be the best in the world all the time, so yeah, that’s the fight that makes sense, if I do Muay Thai.”
