There’s a new ONE welterweight champion after Swedish striker Zebaztian Kadestam pulled off a dramatic fifth round knockout to cap off ONE: ‘Warrior’s Dream’ in Jakarta.
Kadestam had to endure a hard fought attack from American Tyler McGuire, who was definitely a game opponent over the course of four plus rounds. Still, it was Kadestam’s jaw-rattling knockout power that got the job done as he now becomes welterweight champion after winning the vacant title.
The headline fight at Stadium Istora on Saturday night really was a tale of two game plans as Kadestam was attempting to work his powerful striking attack from the outside while McGuire was constantly looking to employ a wrestling heavy strategy.
While he was holding his hand dangerously low throughout the early rounds, McGuire avoided taking much damage and then took advantage of Kadestam’s aggression with several takedowns.
To his credit, Kadestam was able to bounce back to his feet repeatedly when he was taken to the mat while doing an admirable job of shrugging off numerous attempts from the American.
On the feet, McGuire wasn’t completely out of his element with Kadestam but he was very wary about engaging with him too much. McGuire was willing to exchange a few strikes but then he would inevitably look for the takedown while Kadestam was constantly searching for the knockout.
Moving into the championship rounds, Kadestam started to mount more damage on McGuire in the exchanges as he managed to open a couple of small cuts on the American’s face with a hematoma developing from the strikes absorbed.
McGuire started to slow a bit in the final few minutes with less set up to his takedowns, which allowed Kadestam to avoid them more readily. Kadestam continued to press forward, winging big looping shots while looking for the knockout with every shot thrown.
Perfectly timed
With less than a minute remaining, Kadestam unleashed a perfectly timed leaping right hand that landed flush, snapping McGuire’s head around and sending him crashing to the canvas. Kadestam followed up with one more huge knee strike that put McGuire down and out with the end coming at 4:32 in the fifth round.
Following his win, Kadestam was actually apologetic for the fight not being as exciting as he had wanted.
“I’m sorry but I try to entertain anyways,” Kadestam said. “It feels amazing.”
Kadestam (11-4) has now achieved his dream to become champion after coming up short in his previous bid against former welterweight king Ben Askren. With Askren in the UFC, Kadestam was able to seize the opportunity while handing McGuire (11-1) the first loss of his professional career.
A dominant outing
Strawweight contender Priscilla Hertati Lumban Goal picked up her fifth win in six fights during 2018 with a dominant outing against Angelie Sabanal on Saturday in Jakarta.
Lumban Gaol, who comes from a wushu background, used her distance striking to tag Sabanal repeatedly over all three rounds to rack up points on the judges scorecards.
Sabanal tried on two separate occasions to take Lumban Gaol’s back but she was unable to secure positions and eventually ended up back on her feet against the Indonesian fighter.
From there it was all Lumban Gaol (5-3) as she constantly measured her distance and then unleashed striking combinations in rapid fire succession. Her best shot in the fight came in the third and final round after Lumban Gaol connected with a short punch that dropped Sabanal (1-1) down to the mat for a moment
While she couldn’t quite get the finish, Lumban Goal did more than enough to secure the victory as she picked up her fifth win in 2018 as she maintains her position as the most active women’s fighter on the entire ONE Championship roster.
Strawweight contender
Hayato Suzuki moved that much closer to a title shot after he took Pongsiri Mitsatit down in the opening round and finished the fight with a rear naked choke.
Suzuki was determined to give Mitsatit nightmare flashbacks after taking the fight to the ground and immediately began setting up the inverted kimura — better known as the ‘Passion lock’, made famous by ONE strawweight champion Joshua Pacio. That same move finished Mitsatit in his last fight so he immediately recognized the submission attempt from Suzuki.
Unfortunately for Mitsatit (9-2), as he was defending that submission, he was unable to stop Suzuki (20-1-2) from locking up the rear naked choke instead with the tap coming at 2:09 into the opening round.
Considering Suzuki has a submission win over Pacio already, it’s tough to imagine he won’t be near the front of the line to challenge for his title in the near future.
Quick turnaround
Following a head kick knockout last week, Anthony Engelen stepped back into the cage on Saturday and this time pulled off a rear naked choke submission to make quick work of Jimmy Yabo.
Engelen just fought six days earlier in Singapore but didn’t hesitate when the call came to compete in his hometown of Jakarta. ‘The Archangel’ wasted no time taking Yabo to the ground during the opening exchange and he quickly transitioned to take the back before locking up the submission.
Yabo (5-7) offered little resistance as he was forced to tap at 2:35 into the opening round while dropping his fifth straight fight overall. Meanwhile, Engelen (8-4) has now picked up back-to-back wins — one by knockout and one by submission — to make the most of the opportunities presented to him these past two weeks.
Another Indonesian star
Elipitua Siregar (3-0) showcased a dominant grappling game to lock up a second round rear naked choke against Pakistan’s Muhammad Imran (5-3).
While Imran was able to secure a takedown of his own in the first round, he couldn’t do much with the position before Siregar worked his way back to the feet.
When Siregar managed to put Imran down in the second stanza, he had no desire to let him back up again as he began raining down with huge ground and pound in a furious fashion. As soon as Imran attempted to scramble out of the position, Siregar seized on the opening to take his back and immediately latch onto the rear naked choke to get the job done.
Siregar moves to 3-0, with three straight finishes, as another Indonesian star emerges during the latest card in Jakarta.
In the opening bout on the main card, local favorite Egi Rozten (2-0) needed less than a round to quickly dispatch of Eddey Kalai (0-5) with a one-punch knockout.
Rozten was quick out of the gate and once he found his distance, he uncorked the fight ending shot that put Kalai down and out in the opening round.
The Jakarta crowd came unglued for their native son as Rozten moved to 2-0 in his career following an impressive victory to start his ONE Championship career earlier this year with another TKO victory.
ONE: ‘Warrior’s Dream’, Kuala Lumpur, November 17th
Zebaztian Kadestam defeats Tyler McGuire by KO (Punch) at 4:32 of round 5 (Wins ONE Welterweight Title)
Kickboxing: Nieky Holzken defeats Cosmo Alexandre by KO (Punch) at 2:59 of round 2
Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol defeats Angelie Sabanal by Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of round 3
Hayato Suzuki defeats Pongsiri Mitsatit by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:09 minutes of round 1
Muay Thai: Lerdsila Phuket Top Team defeats Sok Thy by Decision (Unanimous) at 3:00 of round 3
Anthony Engelen defeats Jimmy Yabo by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:35 minutes of round 1
Elipitua Siregar defeats Muhammad Imran by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:10 minutes of round 2
Egi Rozten defeats Eddey Kalai by KO (Punch) at 3:15 of round 1
Dae Hwan Kim defeats Zhao Zhi Kang by Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of round 3
Tatsumitsu Wada defeats Eugene Toquero by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 0:52 minutes of round 1
Adrian Mattheis defeats Aziz Calim by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:57 of round 2
Muay Thai: Brown Pinas defeats Yohann Drai by KO (Elbow) at 0:52 of round 2
Bruno Pucci defeats Xie Chao by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 0:56 of round 1
Dwi Ani Retno Wulan defeats Putri Padmi by Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of round 3
