Zebaztian Kadestam ONE Fight Night 31: FREE FULL FIGHT: Swedish silencer Zebaztian Kadestam unleashes pure power in late KO of Tyler McGuire

Zebaztian Kadestam left a trail of destruction in his pursuit of the ONE welterweight MMA world championship, which culminated in his November 2018 barnburner with Tyler McGuire over the then-vacant crown.

'The Bandit' leaned on his striking strengths to keep the grappling-heavy McGuire at bay and score points. There were moments early in their world title tilt where it appeared that the American had Kadestam's number on the ground, though the latter found ways out of it.

As the fight progressed, Kadestam had the Sikjitsu product wondering what to do next as the former kept landing his punches. With about 30 seconds remaining in the fifth and final round, the Swede dropped McGuire with a lunging right hand to claim the 185-pound MMA crown via knockout.

Relive the entire fight below, which ONE shared on YouTube:

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After a successful defense against Georgiy Kichigin in March 2019, Kadestam's reign ended at the hands of Kiamrian Abbasov in October that year via unanimous decision. This, unfortunately, kickstarted a three-fight skid for Kadestam.

He bounced back with a three-fight winning streak, highlighted by his wondrous second-round knockout of Croatian monster Roberto Soldic.

Zebaztian Kadestam receives high praise from upcoming opponent

Zebaztian Kadestam will look to keep the ball rolling with a win over Isi Fitikefu at ONE Fight Night 31 on May 2. The Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, will host the event.

Fitikefu recently engaged in an interview with ONE, where he praised Kadestam, saying:

"I just want to beat the best guys. I want to beat the best guys ever. He's one of the best — he's a former champ. And he's one of the best everywhere."

ONE Fight Night 31 will be available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi