Jon Di Bella’s reaction to being congratulated by Georges St-Pierre on his world title win

Italian-Canadian Jon Di Bella became the strawweight kickboxing champion at ONE 162. After securing the belt, MMA legend Georges St-Pierre took the time to congratulate his fellow Canadian.

The recent strawweight kickboxing title fight between Di Bella and Zhang Peimian was an instant classic. The former outlasted the Chinese fighter to secure the decision victory. Remarkably, Di Bella did so in what was his ONE Championship debut.

Later, Di Bella was congratulated by arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, Georges St-Pierre. The former two-division UFC champion took to his Instagram story to post this:

“New Champion 👏 Congrats @jondibella.”

The new champ recently responded with what it meant to receive a shoutout from the legendary fighter. Di Bella said in an exclusive interview with SCMP MMA:

"Georges knows me, knows my dad. He's been around us for a while now. He saw me grow up in the kickboxing industry since I was a little kid, so he was very happy to see I won a major title in kickboxing."

Catch the full interview below:

Few have impressed more in their promotional debut than Di Bella, who took part in an epic clash against Peimian. The two young stars put on an offensive clinic, but it was Di Bella who took control late, dropping his foe in the fight's final minute.

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Jon Di Bella knew the odds were stacked against him

Adding to his awe-inspiring performance was the fact that the ONE newcomer fought in enemy territory, so to speak. To that point, Di Bella said post-fight:

“It means a lot. Especially coming here in his territory, and in Asia, and everybody had it against me. And there was, I believe it was 75-25% for him. Against all odds, I told you, I was going to give you a war. I told you I was going to do my talking in the circle, and I did.”

The unbeaten striker made history at ONE 162 by becoming the first male North American world champion in ONE’s all-striking divisions. He now hopes to break more barriers by bringing more attention to the sport.

Di Bella has been training since he was a child — and it's all paying off in the form of success on the global stage. With that in mind, fans will no doubt be on the lookout for an announcement regarding Jon Di Bella's next fight, as it will serve as his first ONE strawweight kickboxing title defense.

Check out Jon Di Bella's title-winning performance below: