ONE Championship: Zebaztian Kadestam challenges Roberto Soldic to ‘prove something’ in welterweight match-up
- Former two-division KSW champion Soldic signed with ONE last month, and is awaiting his first opponent in the Circle
- Kadestam, the promotion’s former welterweight champion, dares Croatian knockout artist to ‘go through me’
Zebaztian Kadestam is hoping he will have the opportunity to welcome Roberto Soldic to ONE Championship.
The 31-year-old Swede, a former welterweight champion, returned to the Circle at ONE on Prime Video 1 late last month in Singapore, and stopped Iuri Lapicus with a devastating first-round uppercut.
In his post-fight interview with commentator Mitch Chilson, he called for a fight with former two-division KSW champion Roberto Soldic, who recently signed with ONE to much fanfare.
“It’s the hype, and that he’s a striker,” Kadestam (14-7) told the Post, explaining the appeal of a fight with Soldic.
“They’re doing this big hype, and it’s not going to come for free. I’ve been working in ONE for a long time and I think it’s a good fight. If he wants to prove something here, he should go through me.”
Soldic (20-3) has yet to compete in ONE, but will make his debut with seven consecutive victories behind him – several of which came against high-level talent like Mamed Khalidov, Michal Materla and Dricus du Plessis.
Kadestam is well aware of the 27-year-old Croatian’s skill, but believes he has what it takes to derail his rival’s win-streak.
“He’s winning fights and he’s doing a good job,” Kadestam said. “He’s a good fighter but I do believe I can beat him – then it’s just an extra bonus that he has a lot of hype.”
It does not seem as though Kadestam will have to campaign very hard for this fight. He claims to have already broached the idea with ONE’s matchmakers, who apparently appreciated his call-out.
And Soldic, for his part, seems to be open to the idea.
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“Kadestam, you called me out,” the former KSW champ wrote in his Instagram story after the Swede’s win. “I accept your fight. Let’s see you very soon.”
Kadestam is not surprised by Soldic’s interest in the fight.
“He sees it as I see it,” the Swede said. “He sees the match-up potential. I’m sure he sees it as a fun fight as well, like a martial artist. For the fans it’s going to be great fight.”
Kadestam’s win over Lapicus was his second in a row. Back in February, he scored a similarly vicious knockout win over Brazil’s Valmir da Silva, which separated him from three consecutive losses.
Now that he is back on a win streak, Kadestam believes a fight with Soldic would produce one of the top contenders for the ONE welterweight title, currently held by Kyrgyzstan’s Kiamrian Abbasov.
“In the division right now we should have [Murad] Ramazanov versus Abbasov for the title,” he said. “It should have been done already.
“Then if we get this fight [with Soldic], the winner of this fight should for sure fight for the title.”
Kadestam won the ONE welterweight title with a knockout of Tyler McGuire in 2019. He then defended the belt once, with a stoppage of Georgiy Kichigin, before losing it to Abbasov by way of decision.
