Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam, 28, of Sweden is still the reigning ONE Welterweight World Championship. He emerged victorious in his first title defense, which was the main event of “ONE: Reign of Valor.”
Featuring nine MMA matches and five ONE Super Series contests, which are kickboxing bouts, “ONE: Reign of Valor” took place at the Thuwunna Indoor Stadium in Yangon, Myanmar on March 8, 2019. In the 14th bout of the evening, Georgiy “Knight” Kichigin, 28, of Kazakhstan challenged Kadestam.
Kemp Cheng served as the referee of the ONE Welterweight World Championship bout between Kadestam and Kichigin. For the better part of the first two rounds, the Swedish defending champion was on the wrong end of a grappling clinic from his Kazakh challenger.
Kadestam was getting taken down and controlled on the ground. But in the dying minutes of the second round, he landed a thunderous elbow in the clinch that had Kichigin dazed at the end of the round.
Visibly still hurt from the elbow, Kichigin was unable to answer the third round bell. After two five-minute rounds, Cheng raised the hand of the Swedish defending champion, who was declared the winner via technical knockout via retirement.
Winning at “ONE: Reign of Valor” improved Kadestam’s professional MMA record to 12 wins and 4 losses. On the other hand, Kichigin now has 20 wins and 6 losses.
Kadestam and Kichigin were the sole representatives of their respective countries at “ONE: Reign of Valor.” Australia, Cambodia, China, Finland, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Myanmar, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Thailand and the United Kingdom were also represented.
Training out of Legacy Gym and Pancrase Gym Sweden, Kadestam is now riding a three-bout winning streak. Here is a clip featuring the Swedish champ:
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CONAN Daily 