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Zebaztian Kadestam Excited To Continue Charge Back To The Top Against Roberto Soldic At ONE Fight Night 10

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Former ONE Welterweight World Champion Zebaztian Kadestam’s journey back to the top of the division has been nothing short of emphatic.

The Swedish star claimed the coveted divisional crown in Novemeber 2018, and he defended it successfully six months later. Unfortunately, he couldnt keep the belt in his next outing, and from there, he slid to a three-fight skid. 

But in typical fashion, Kadestam refused to let that competitive lull get him down. He remained persistent and focused, and eventually his hardwork began to bear fruit.

The 32-year-old returned to his usual form last year. He dispatched Valmir Da Silva with a thunderous knockout inside the first round at ONE: FULL CIRCLE last February, and he served up the same treatment to Iuri Lapicus when they clashed at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August to properly reintroduce himself to a division he once reigned over. 

With two first-round finishes in a row to his name, Kadestam will be at peak confidence heading into his upcoming fight with former two-division KSW World Champion Roberto Soldic, who he faces at ONE’s debut U.S. event, ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III, on Saturday, 6th May.

Soldic will likely offer Kadestam his biggest challenge to date inside the Circle, and their showdown has been deemed a World Title eliminator matchup by many. Divisional gold isn’t in “The Bandit’s” mind. Instead, he is just focused on getting back amongst the very best that the stacked weight class has on offer.

“Man, after I beat this guy, I’m back on top. I don’t care about any title. And we will see what happens next, but this is the biggest fight of my career for sure and I’m coming for everything. To be honest, I haven’t been this motivated since I fought Tyler McGuire for the title,” Kadestam said.

“Since then, you know, life has not been steady. And this is the one, it gives me the chills, it keeps me up at night already, I haven’t been here for a while so it feels really good to be back doing what I love.”

Soldic arrived in ONE Championship as Europe’s hottest name, and he is arguably the promotion’s most exciting new asset. With 17 knockouts in 20 victories, the hype for him to show out on May 6th is growing by the day. 

Kadestam recognises the excitement from the fans and fighters, and he’s fine with it because he’s been here before. The way he sees it, if all eyes are on his opponent, he can prime himself for an upset. 

“I’ve had a lot of fights in ONE. I’ve won and defended the title. I fought Ben Askren and I think this is kind of the same,” Kadestam analysed.

“I think this fight is bigger than the Ben Askren fight. It’s a name. Everybody knows him, he has all the hype, and I want it.”

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UFC Vegas 91 – Results | Nicolau vs Perez

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The UFC made their return to action last night, featuring a flyweight main event between top contender Matheus Nicolau and former title challenger Alex Perez.

For the full results, look no further!

Note: any point deductions will be denoted with an asterisk and explained at the bottom of the page.

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Main card (12am GMT+1 – TNT Sports)

(#8) Alex Perez defeats (#5) Matheus Nicolau via knockout (punches – 2:16 – R2) – flyweight bout

Bogdan Guskov defeats (#11) Ryan Spann via TKO (punches – 3:16 – R2) – light heavyweight bout

(#13) Karine Silva defeats (#12) Ariane da Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – flyweight bout

Jhonata Diniz defeats Austen Lane via knockout (punches – 2:12 – R2) – heavyweight bout

David Onama defeats Jonathan Pearse via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – featherweight bout

Uros Medic defeats Tim Means via TKO (punches – 2:09 – R1) – welterweight bout

Prelims (9pm GMT+1 – TNT Sports/UFC Fight Pass)

Victor Henry defeats Rani Yahya via TKO (head kick and punches – 2:36 – R3) – bantamweight bout

Austin Hubbard defeats Michal Figlak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – lightweight bout

Don’Tale Mayes defeats Caio Machado via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – heavyweight bout

Ketlen Souza defeats Marnic Mann via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – strawweight bout

Chris Padilla defeats James Llontop via submission (rear-naked-choke – 4:33 – R1) – lightweight bout

Ivana Petrovic defeats Liang Na via submission (arm triangle – 1:29 – R3) – flyweight bout

Maheshate Hayisaer defeats Gabriel Benitez via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) – lightweight bout

***

For more UFC content, stay tuned to Violent Money TV.

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STYLEBENDER PRAISES POATAN

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It seems Alex Pereira is on a lot of minds of late. His former nemesis ‘Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya has been speaking about him this week and, rather surprisingly, heaped praise on the Brazilian.  

The pair have shared an intense rivalry throughout their respective kickboxing and mixed  martial arts careers, with Pereira beating Adesanya three times before ‘The Last Stylebender’ finally got the edge over ‘Poatan’ in their last meeting a year ago. 

Pereira won their first meeting in the kickboxing ring by decision back in 2016 and then knocked out Adesanya in a rematch eleven months later. 

He then finished Adesanya in the fifth round at UFC 281 to claim the middleweight title  in only his sixth professional MMA bout, before Adesanya reclaimed the belt a few months later with a devastating right hook. 

Adesanya went on to lose the belt to Sean Strickland and has since been on a self imposed sabbatical from the sport. He was an interested spectator as Pereira moved up to the light heavyweight division, before winning and then defending the belt in that  division too. 

Speaking with former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson on his YouTube  channel this week, Adesanya had nothing but praise for Pereira, and insists the Brazilian brings out the best in him: 

He’s a special fighter” said Adesanya. “He’s a special human being. What he’s done in  this game, in fighting, and for his life as well, I’ll always respect him. I’m grateful for  those moments because, for me, it taught me so much about myself and where I can  go”. 

Despite losing the first three fights in their series, Adesanya insists the fights were  closer than that record suggests: 

First fight in China, I thought I won. These casuals don’t. These plebs don’t. I thought I  won. Even he thought I won until he got his hand raised. Second fight, I’m beating his ass  and he gets me. Again in New Your (UFC 281) I’m beating him. Rocked him, took him  down, held him down, beat him and he gets me…I just knew that I can beat this guy”. 

With Adesanya rumoured to be coming back to challenge Dricus Du Plessis for the  185lb title, and Alex Pereira seemingly looking upwards toward the heavyweight division  for his next challenge, it seems the pair are out of each other’s crosshairs…for now at least.

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JAMAHAL HILL WANTS REVENGE

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Despite being just two weeks removed from his defeat to Alex Pereira in the main event at UFC 300, Jamahal Hill is climbing straight back on the horse and already has his next fight lined up. ‘Sweet Dreams’ is scheduled to face Khalil Roundtree Jr at UFC 303 on June 29th

The card will be headlined by the long-awaited return of ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor, and Hill has elected to step straight back into fight camp rather than sit on the sidelines and recover from the devastating first round knockout he suffered at the hands of Pereira. 

Rountree will be coming into this bout on a five-fight winning streak and has finished seven of his 9 UFC victories by knockout. Sitting at #8 in the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings, Rountree will surely see a victory over a former champion like Hill as a short cut to a title shot. 

Given that Hill will likely have received a 60-day medical suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and there are only 77 days separating UFCs 300 and 303, there are certainly questions to be raised about the decision of Hill and his team to take this fight. 

Hill explained in an interview with The Schmo that he sees the proximity of the two fights  being a positive for his physical preparations, and that he is focused on avenging the loss to Pereira: 

“I’m already in good shape” he explained. I’m feeling good, heading into another camp  just makes sense, I get to go into a camp in shape instead of going into camp off a layoff  so I think that’ll be a huge plus and will help me go out and put on the performance I  need to against Khalil Rountree to put myself back in position to get that Alex Pereira fight back. 

“It’s about getting back to that fight, I want to fight Alex again just because of the narrative surrounding it ” 

Hill originally won the 205lb title after defeating Pereira’s coach Glover Teixeira over five rounds at UFC 283 in January of 2023. He then ruptured his Achilles tendon last July and vacated the belt which Pereira won by beating Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295 in November.

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