ONE Championship: Jonathan Di Bella loses kickboxing title on the scale, Prajanchai bout off Friday Fights 58
Jonathan Di Bella lost his ONE Championship strawweight kickboxing title on the scale after failing to pass hydration for Friday's fight against Prajanchai PK Saenchai.
Officials hoped the bout could still proceed at a catchweight, with only Prajanchai able to claim the vacant belt in the ONE Friday Fights 58 co-main event at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.
Di Bella was on weight in unofficial checks during Thursday's official three-hour testing window, Sportskeeda understands, but failed to provide a hydrated sample.
The Italian-Canadian, who later looked gaunt and pale during Thursday's face-offs at Lumpinee Stadium, later went to hospital and eventually elected not to compete.
The 27-year-old's father and coach, Angelo Di Bella, said his son vomited at the hospital, was feeling dizzy and nauseous, and was still sick on Friday morning. Angelo told Sportskeeda:
"Jonathan, of all people, is a blood and guts warrior. You think we came here to play?"
ONE's strawweight kickboxing title is now vacant, and the card remains at ten bouts, with no late replacement found for Prajanchai.
Former title challenger Zhang Peimian will face ONE Friday Fights prodigy Aliff Sor Dechepan in a strawweight kickboxing bout earlier in the card, with no plans to match one of them against Muay Thai king Prajanchai.
Di Bella becomes the third champion in ONE's history to be stripped of his title for missing weight after John Lineker and Kiamrian Abbasov surrendered their bantamweight and welterweight MMA titles in 2022.
Di Bella claimed the vacant strawweight kickboxing title with a decision win over China's Zhang in Kuala Lumpur in October 2022. He made a successful first defense of his belt with another unanimous decision victory against Danial Williams a year later in Bangkok.
Friday's main event for the interim ONE featherweight kickboxing title will still go ahead as planned, though, with both former champion Superbon Singha Mawynn and Marat Grigorian making weight on Thursday afternoon.
The highly-anticipated trilogy bout – the pair's second meeting under the ONE promotional banner – will headline a stacked card at Lumpinee, which also features former bantamweight Muay Thai king Nong-O Hama facing Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek Uthai.
Superbon defeated Grigorian by unanimous decision at the promotion's 10th anniversary spectacular, ONE X, in March 2022 at Singapore Indoor Stadium to retain his title.
In their first fight in 2018, Grigorian knocked Superbon out in 28 seconds in the final of the Kunlun Fight World Max tournament in China.
Friday's card, a quarterly tentpole edition of ONE Lumpinee, will also feature a 142-pound catchweight Muay Thai bout between the Thai legend Seksan Or Kwanmuang and Japan's Yutaro Asahi.
Muangthai PK Saenchai returns against compatriot Nakrob Fairtex in a flyweight Muay Thai bout.