After two years away from the ONE Championship cage, Zebaztian Kadestam, the former ONE welterweight MMA world champion, returns to face Australian fighter Isi Fitikefu at ONE Fight Night 31. Kadestam has not been seen competing for ONE Championship since his shocking win over the Croatian MMA monster Roberto Soldic, who had previously knocked out the current UFC Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. It was considered a shock upset at the time to see someone like Soldic, who has the power to obliterate anyone in the division, as shown with his one-punch knockout of Dagi Arslanaliev.
The former champion will have all eyes on him as he returns against the 9-1 Australian. It seems likely that should Kadestam win his upcoming bout, a rematch with Soldic will likely be in the future. The two powerhouses facing off for a world title may seem too exciting a matchup to pass up.
Zebaztian Kadestam looks to get back in form after a long hiatus.
ONE Championship has a notorious history of shelving fighters, as shown with former two-division champion Reinier De Ridder. So whether or not he was out for injury or simply having fights offered to him is yet to be seen. Even two-sport champion Roman Kryklia, after obliterating Lyndon Knowles, let the organization know that he’s ready and open to fight as often as possible, seemingly asking for more opportunities in his post-fight interview.
As for Kadestam, he’s looking to get back into form and get a big win in order to prove that he is still the man to beat in ONE Championship’s MMA welterweight division.
