Zebaztian Kadestam Claims Vacant Welterweight Title with Late KO at One 'Warrior’s Dream'

With Ben Askren off to compete under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner, Singapore-based promotion crowned a new welterweight king at ”Warrior's Dream in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday.

In the main event, Zebaztian Kadestam (11-4) handed Tyler McGuire (11-1) his first pro loss to claim the vacant 170-pound throne. The contest proved to be a clash of styles, as Sweden’s Kadestam elected to pit his striking against his American opponent’s wrestling.

The army veteran McGuire displayed his tenacity by testing his opponent’s takedown defense for the majority of the fight, while Kadestam did a good job defending those attempts and landing some good shots. As the fight went on, McGuire began to fatigue from his efforts, allowing Kadestam to control the distance of the fight.

With 30 seconds still on the clock in the final round, Kadestam clipped McGuire with a right overhand and sent him to the canvas, earning a knockout at the 4:32 mark of the fifth frame. The One Championship welterweight title had not been on the line since Askren’s last bout with the organization in November 2017.

In the event’s co-feature, hometown girl Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol (5-3) bested Angelie Sabanal (1-1) via unanimous decision. Fighting for the sixth time in 2018, Gaol displayed remarkable improvements in her standup game. As a result, she improved to 5-1 on the year.

Elsewhere, flyweight Hayato Suzuki (20-1-2) forced Pongsiri Mitsatit (9-2) to tap due to a rear naked choke at the 2:09 mark of the opening stanza; lightweight Anthony Engelen (8-4) submitted Jimmy Yabo (5-7) with a rear-naked choke 2:35 into round one; Indonesia’s Elipitua Siregar (3-0) bested Muhammad Imran (5-3) thanks to a slick rear-naked choke at the 2:10 mark of round two; and flyweight Eka Aprilianto (2-1) defeated Eddey “The Clown” Kalai (0-5) by knockout 3:15 into the first stanza.