Canada’s Jonathan Di Bella looks to reclaim strawweight kickboxing world title

By Canadian Press on October 1, 2025.

Canadian kickboxer Jonathan Di Bella has unfinished business Friday when he takes on Thailand’s Prajanchai PK Saenchai at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.

The 29-year-old from Montreal lost a unanimous decision to Prajanchai in June 2024 at the same venue for the One Championship strawweight kickboxing world title. It remains Di Bella’s only professional loss and the decision did not sit well.

“As soon as the (final) bell rang, I believed I had won the fight,” Di Bella said. “Even after that, we watched the fight again — me and my team, me and my dad — and we all believed I won the fight.”

Still Di Bella was gracious in defeat, congratulating Prajanchai, who came into the bout holding One’s strawweight Muay Thai world title.

“Lose or win, you’ve always got to be respectful,” Di Bella said. “Martial arts is about respect and that’s No. 1”

Friday’s rematch is a strawweight (125-pound) kickboxing unification bout.

With Prajanchai holding both the promotion’s Muay Thai and kickboxing titles, he has twice as many demands to defend his crowns. So Di Bella became interim kickboxing champion by defeating Thailand’s Sam-A Gaiyanghadao in March in Saitama, Japan.

The first fight against Prajanchai saw Di Bella, a southpaw, use his speed and reach advantage while the Thai fighter looked to close the gap and attack with knees, kicks and strikes.

The two fighters seemed to relish the action, egging on the crowd in all-action championship fourth and fifth rounds.

“I like high-level competition,” said Di Bella.

Fighters in One’s kickboxing division wear eight-ounce boxing gloves (10-ounce gloves for featherweight or heavier) and can score a knockout via punch, kick or knee. Muay Thai bouts see the fighters wear four-ounce MMA gloves, able to knock out opponents via punch, kick, knee, elbow or legal throw.

With no clinching allowed, kickboxing is faster-paced and features more combinations. Prajanchai was warned several times for clinching in the first Di Bella fight.

Di Bella is 4-1-0 in One Championship action and won the vacant strawweight title in his debut in the promotion with a decision over China’s (The Fighting Rooster) Zhang Peimian at One 162 in October 2022 in Kuala Lumpur.

He defended the championship belt in October 2023, winning a decision over Australia’s (Mini T) Danial Williams in Bangkok. But Di Bella had to give up the title after falling ill on the day of the weigh-ins before his scheduled second title defence in April 2024 against Prajanchai.

Two months later he lost to Prajanchai in the rescheduled bout.

Di Bella returned to winning ways in December by defeating Portugal’s Rui Botelho. Prajanchai, meanwhile, defended his Muay Thai title in February when he knocked out England’s Ellis Badr Barboza.

Prajanchai, a 30-year-old native of Bangkok, is 7-1 in One Championship (5-1 in Muay Thai bouts and 2-0 in kickboxing) but has competed in over 400 professional bouts.

He defeated Sam-A in his One Championship debut to win the strawweight Muay Thai title. He was dethroned in May 2022 by Joseph (The Hurricane) Lasiri, but won the title back four fights later in December 2023 when he stopped the Italian in just 88 seconds.

“He’s a legend, especially in Thailand,” said Di Bella. “He’s one of the best of his generation.”

Di Bella, who joined One Championship with a perfect 10-0 record, hopes to try his hand at Muay Thai in the future.

He started kickboxing when he was just two years old. His father Angelo, now his coach, was a kickboxing champion in his own right and has his own gym in Montreal.

Jonathan Di Bella had his first kickboxing match at 10 and turned pro at 19, competing all over North America, including at Madison Square Garden.

Away from the ring, Di Bella has been busy since his last outing.

In June, he proposed to longtime girlfriend Emely Elizabeth Rodriguez on a beach in Miami. The couple are already business partners through their coffee company, Di Bella Espresso, billed as “where passion meets perfection in every sip.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press