ONE Championship: Chatri confirms Di Bella title defence for ONE 174 in December - Bangkok Post

Jonathan Di Bella celebrates with the ONE strawweight kickboxing belt after regaining the title at ONE Fight Night 36 Jonathan Di Bella will defend his ONE Championship strawweight kickboxing title at ONE 174 in December, as the promotion revives its numbered series even sooner than March’s planned return to Qatar.

Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong indicated the event would take place on December 12 outside Thailand, with the host country expected to be announced next week.

“Di Bella will defend at 174 in December,” Chatri said during a Facebook Live broadcast on the ONE Championship Thailand page on Wednesday.

The Bangkok Post understands the event is planned for a territory outside Thailand, Japan and Qatar. It would be the first numbered card beyond those countries since ONE 168 at Denver’s Ball Arena on September 6, 2024.

It would also end a gap of almost 13 months since ONE 173 in Tokyo in November 2025, with the promotion yet to stage a numbered event this year.

Qatar had been expected to host the series’ return, with a show already announced for March 26, 2027, at Doha’s Aspire Dome. That event remains scheduled under ONE’s renewed three-year partnership with Visit Qatar, but December’s card would restart the numbered series more than three months earlier.

Chatri nearly revealed the destination while answering a question about Di Bella’s next fight, before catching himself.

“I almost said the country. Sorry, I can’t say the country.”

He also flagged an upcoming announcement about ONE 175, without giving a date for that event.

ONE has continued to expand its event schedule through weekly shows at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium and the introduction of the ONE Samurai series in Japan, but its numbered cards have become less frequent.

China and Malaysia would be familiar options. The Bangkok Post understands the promotion was close to finalising events in both countries for late 2025, but neither materialised.

Both were regular stops before the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia. A return to either would restore part of the regional touring schedule that once defined ONE’s major events.

Another American trip appears a less likely option after the planned follow-up in Denver was postponed from August 2025 to June 2026 and then cancelled.

Chatri did not name Di Bella’s challenger, although China’s Wang Junguang has emerged as a contender after upsetting ONE strawweight Muay Thai king Prajanchai Pongsuphan PK by split decision in a kickboxing bout at The Inner Circle 35 on October 16.

Di Bella, 30, has already welcomed that challenge. In an interview published by ONE last week, he said he had scored all three rounds for Wang.

The 31-year-old Wang was making his first ONE appearance since a split-decision loss to Russia’s Aslanbek Zikreev at ONE: Inside the Matrix IV in November 2020.

He had previously lost to Thai veteran Sam-A Gaiyanghadao by unanimous decision in a fight for the inaugural strawweight kickboxing title in December 2019.

Montreal-based Di Bella last competed on July 17, retaining his title with a unanimous-decision victory over China’s Zhang Peimian at The Inner Circle 22 in Bangkok.

That was the Italian-Canadian’s second win over Zhang, whom he also beat to claim the vacant title on his promotional debut in October 2022. The rematch took his overall record to 16-1 and extended his winning streak to four.

Di Bella regained the undisputed championship in October 2025 by avenging his only career defeat against Prajanchai at ONE Fight Night 36. He had won the interim belt against Sam-A at ONE 172 in March that year.

December’s defence would follow the collapse of a planned move up a division. Di Bella had been scheduled to challenge Thai star Superlek for the flyweight kickboxing title at ONE Samurai 4 in Tokyo on October 17.

Superlek tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during his August 7 rematch with Abdulla Dayakaev, just one day after the title bout was announced. He required surgery and subsequently relinquished the kickboxing belt to focus on his recovery.

A fight with Wang would also revive a matchup which had previously been arranged during the Covid-19 pandemic. Di Bella told ONE that flight and quarantine complications had prevented it from going ahead.

Asked about the prospect of facing Wang now, the champion predicted a decisive ending.

“I do think somebody’s going to get knocked out in this fight. And it’s not going to be me.”