SUMMARY
- Jonathan Di Bella vs. Prajanchai PK Saenchai finally goes down at ONE Friday Fights 68.
- The two were previously scheduled to fight at ONE Friday Fights 58 before Di Bella pulled out.
ONE Championship has duly added a huge World Title battle to its ONE Friday Fights 68 event. Former ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Di Bella gets his shot at redemption at the June 28 event when he faces strawweight Muay Thai king Prajanchai PK Saenchai for his old belt at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong dropped the news in a recent chat with Sportskeeda MMA.
“Yeah, [Jonathan Di Bella vs Prajanchai] has been booked for June 28. Every once a quarter we have a big tentpole version of ONE Friday Fights. So the next tentpole, big card, is on June 28,” he said.
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“The next big Lumpinee tentpole event is a sick banger of a card. That stadium is going to be loud, loud, loud.”
Fans can’t forget that Di Bella vs. Prajanchai was scheduled once before, but things took a turn for the worst when Di Bella fell ill.
Jonathan Di Bella and Prajanchai PK Saenchai have history
The blockbuster ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title showdown between Jonathan Di Bella and Prajanchai PK Saenchai has been restored after a false start earlier this year. The pair were set to lock horns at ONE Friday Fights 58 this past April before Di Bella fell ill and subsequently elected to withdraw from the bout on weigh in day. In accordance with promotional policy, he was then stripped of his belt for his inability to hit the scales.
The undefeated Canadian-Italian star now gets his chance to regain the crown that he lost in such unfortunate circumstances. This comes after the 27-year-old started his ONE tenure in magical fashion.
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He claimed the inaugural strawweight kickboxing crown in a classic five-round battle with Zhang Peimian in 2022 before defending the belt in a dominant showing against Australia’s Danial Williams. Prajanchai, however, is also on a hot streak. The 29-year-old has won four-straight since his 2022 defeat to Joseph Lasiri, including a crushing win over Thai legend Sam-A Gaiyanghadao for the interim strawweight Muay Thai crown.
Most recently, Prajanchai got his revenge over Lasiri and claimed the undisputed ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Title with a resounding one-round demolition of the Italian this past December.