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ONE Championship | Soldic vs Kadestam set for May 5th
It was recently announced by ONE that Welterweight mega prospect, Roberto “Robocop” Soldic, will make his return when the Asian giants touch down in Colorado on May 5th for ONE Fight Night 10.
The heavy-handed Croatian will meet former champ Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam, a fight which, with a win propels either man to the top of the division. A piece of matchmaking that seemingly promises to be a slobber knocker and one you won’t want to miss as a fight fan.
After an unfortunate ending to a long-awaited debut in December, “Robocop” is now knocking on the door of the next welterweight contender in a bid to make things right. But this job will be far from routine, a standoff opposite a Swedish “Bandit” who relishes the hard way, fully intending to come out with his hands up and his chin tucked, as he looks to plant another pursuer on the mat amid his quest to become king pin once more.
Soldic (20-3-0) fell victim to a No contest on his ONE debut against Murad Ramazanov in December, suffering a low blow which rendered him unable to continue. Established in the European MMA scene, “Robocop” made a name for himself in KSW, becoming their middleweight and welterweight champ while maintaining a 90 percent knockout rate through his 20 career wins.
His exciting style and consistent results saw him one of the most sought after fighters in MMA after he became a free agent last year. With knockout victories over top opponents such as Mamed Khalidov and UFC middleweight contender Dricus Du Plessis, as well fighting Bellator’s welterweight champ Yaroslav Amosov to a split decision in 2016 after just 7 pro fights, it’s no question whether he’s capable of performing against the best.
Currently riding a 7 fight win streak, Soldic is presented with a huge opportunity against former ONE welterweight king, Zebaztian Kadestam. A convincing win over “The Bandit” paired with his evident reputation and promise sounds like a recipe for a crack at the title. No one can tell me that a fight between Soldic and Christian Lee doesn’t sound like absolute insanity and I’m all for it.
Unlike Soldic, Kadestam (14-7-0) is a ONE veteran, fighting for the organisation since 2017 and even managing to claim gold in the process. “The Bandit” is known for his exciting hard nosed fighting style, he will stalk you, get in your face and bash you up with every limb he has at his disposal.
Despite his last two contests being first round knockouts, the Swede isn’t exactly an explosive fast starter, he’s patient and methodical but has a knack for pouncing upon openings with beautifully timed power shots.
The composure and killer instinct of this man means as long as you’re on the feet with him, the danger doesn’t go away. Like Soldic, he’s a finisher, with 12 of his 14 wins coming via KO or TKO, his last two ending viciously, a nasty right hand to break a 3 fight skid against Valmir Da Silva and most recently, a KO of the year contender against Iuri Lapicus in which he countered a level change with a vicious uppercut.
Kadestam’s Kryptonite if you will, has historically been strong wrestlers.
Although he has successfully stopped them in the past, the 3-fight skid which began with the loss of his belt against Kiamran Abbasov, consisted of 3 performances in which his grappling was exploited and he paid the price. Kadestam faced the same issue when facing Ben Askren during his ONE stint, but then again, at this point no one had been able to stop said approach by the American.
Of course, the blueprint has been set to beat Kadestam, but I can’t help but think that Soldic is going to relish the stand-up battle just as much as his Swedish counterpart.
A win for Kadestam would be huge here, a victory over one of the biggest and most highly regarded talents in MMA to round out a 3 fight win streak, I can’t help but think a title shot may be on the line for both guys here. Despite Kadestam’s loss to Ramazanov, I feel he will have made more of a statement than the Russian, all while remaining more active.
ONE certainly don’t seem to be pulling any punches in preparation for their US debut, slowly amassing an event of the year contender as they look to make a statement on the turf of their promotional competitors.
The card is already slated to contain four title fights, with Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA and submission grappling gold all set to be on the line. The event will be headlined by the rubber match between MMA great Demetrious Johnson and a man he knows all too well, Brazil’s Adriano Moraes.
Who do you think takes it? Be sure to let us know!
After much deliberation, striking veterans Liam Harrison and Seksan Or Kwanmuang have finally found a date for their highly anticipated clash.
The pair will meet in a 140-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest when ONE Championship returns to the U.S. for ONE 168: Denver on Saturday, 7th September.
The event inside Denver, Colorado’s Ball Arena is already stacking up to be one of the biggest cards of the year for the world’s largest martial arts organization, and the addition of this matchup will only increase the hype among martial arts fans.
Harrison has been on the sidelines for some time now. He suffered a worrying knee injury when he challenged former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama for the gold at ONE on Prime Video 1 in August 2022, and he had to overcome further complications before thinking about a return to action.
The British striking legend will have a chance to shake off the cobwebs before colliding with Seksan, however, as he is scheduled to make his way back to ONE for a battle with Katsuki Kitano at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on 8th June.
“Hitman” will need all the preparation he can get for his match with Seksan. The former Rajadamnern Stadium and WBC Muay Thai World Champion has built a fearsome reputation in ONE Championship over the last 15 months, given that he amassed eight consecutive wins after his debut last January.
Seksan appeared unstoppable in the promotion until he met Japanese star Yutaro Asashi at ONE Friday Fights 58 earlier this month.
After three thrilling rounds of Muay Thai, the Thai veteran fell to a unanimous decision loss, which means he’ll be charged up for a triumphant return to form against Harrison.
And with “Hitman” keen to find his way back to the top in ONE, their clash in Denver on 7th September is all but guaranteed to be a barnburner.
The whirlwind surrounding Ryan Garcia’s victory over Devin Haney last weekend is just beginning to settle down but it seems the controversial boxer is intent on staying in the headlines as he eyes UFC champion, Sean O’Malley.
The bizarre lead up to the fight with Haney was plagued with erratic behaviour on Garcia’s part, rumours of a mental breakdown, signs of alcohol and drug issues, and generally controversial behaviour. Garcia missed weight by 3.2lbs, and appeared to chug a beer on the scales during the weigh ins.
Entering the fight as an underdog, Garcia surprised everybody by dropping Haney three times and emerging victorious by majority decision. After the fight, Garcia insisted he drank and smoked every day in the build up to the fight and still picked up the win. This shocking turn of events has now opened up a variety of possible lucrative match ups for Garcia going forward, and it seems one MMA superstar wants a piece of that action.
The UFC hasn’t sanctioned a boxing crossover bout since Conor McGregor faced Floyd Mayweather back in 2017. ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has long campaigned for the opportunity to test his striking skills against Garcia, and this week on his podcast The Timbo Sugar Show, he insisted that the UFC have already given him the green light to seek out some opportunities in the boxing ring:
“A boxing fight’s possible for sure. I’m not there yet. I’ve still got to become bigger. Two more f*cking sick performances, then we’re talking about being able to do it.
O’Malley continued: “They told me ‘You can do a boxing fight, 100 percent, if it makes us enough money’. The option is there, it just has to be able to make enough money. But Ryan being a f*cking freak like that, you need two A-sides to make a f*cking Floyd v Conor fight”.
Ryan Garcia tweeted an image of himself and O’Malley this week with the caption: “RAINBOW CACA BRAIN. WANTS TO BOX. BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW”
RAINBOW CACA BRAIN
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) April 22, 2024
WANTS TO BOX
BE PREPARED TO BLEED RAINBOW pic.twitter.com/GGrvV7ZSCH
Sean O’Malley became the UFC’s bantamweight champion when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last August. He then defended the belt and avenged the only loss on his record when he dominated Marlon Vera over five rounds at UFC 299 in March.
The next step in the fascinating UFC journey of Alex Pereira remains to be seen. ‘Poatan’ pulled off a sensational knockout finish over Jamahal Hill in the first round of their main event bout at UFC 300 to defend his light heavyweight belt.
In his post-fight interview, the Brazilian called for the opportunity to compete at heavyweight at UFC 301 which takes place in Rio De Janeiro in just a couple of weeks. UFC president Dana White seemed unenthusiastic about that idea, however, and it seems now that the dust has settled after 300, Pereira is a little more willing to take his time before signing up for his next fight.
In an interview with MMA Fighting’s Trocacao Franca podcast, Pereira was asked if he’d rather defend his 205lb title again or test the waters in the heavyweight division. He responded:
“It’s hard to answer that. I haven’t thought too much about it yet. If it’s a longer period of time, I’d obviously rather defend my belt. If it takes too long and I fight at heavyweight and there are injuries, when am I going to defend my belt? I don’t want to hold up the division.
I was imagining the best-case scenario when I called for a heavyweight fight at UFC 301, but I have two broken toes. Both feet are f*cked. It’s complicated. I don’t want to hold up the light heavyweight division. A cool scenario would have been fighting at heavyweight at 301 and then giving the opportunity to someone to fight for the light heavyweight belt next. I think that would have been cool”.
205lb contender Magomed Ankalaev has called for a fight with Pereira on the UFC’s October pay-per-view card in Abu Dhabi, but ‘Poatan’ brushed that idea off instantly, saying:
“I don’t want to fight at the end of the year. I want to fight sooner, so maybe that shows he won’t be ready. I don’t know why he said that. This guy is complicated”.
If Pereira manages to get another win under his belt and is ready to go again before the end of the year, he said he would much rather compete on the Madison Square Garden event in November, which is closer to his current home in Danbury.
“It makes total sense” he said. “Wait one more month and I’m fighting at home? It’s so much better”.
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