Di Bella claimed the interim gold when he outstruck former two-division World Champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao across five rounds at ONE 172 this past March.
The Canadian-Italian star knows he’ll have to run it back with the two-sport titleholder Prajanchai, who snatched the ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title off him in June 2024, to finish the job.
And that’s proving difficult, given that, according to him, the Thai superstar is looking for any reason not to fight him.
“I feel like he’s making excuses, that’s for sure,” Di Bella told Bangkok Post.
“He’s using that little word [killer instinct] to not make the fight happen. But hopefully it will happen soon. I would like to fight him – he’s the champion, so I got to beat him. But if he wants to go fight other guys, I don’t mind defending my interim title if that’s a thing.”
When two highly regarded competitors are set to clash, the tension is usually kicked up a notch. However, Di Bella isn’t interested in any verbal sparring.
For him, the unification bout isn’t about drumming up fanfare or generating bad blood. It’s about his reputation in the sport and how it will be affected by waiting around.
The 28-year-old believes he’s more than held up his end of the bargain, and he wants Prajanchai to do the same.
“Yeah, [It will have an impact on my legacy]. Kind of,” Di Bella said.
“I just want to get that match set. And I want to test my skills against his. I don’t want too much drama. I just want to get the fight when it happens. And fight. That’s what real champions do. They defend the title. That’s all I got to say.”
