Zebastian Kadestam Retains Welterweight Title At One: Reign of Valor

One Championship returned to Myanmar’s capital, Yangon, with its event One: Reign Of Valor, which went down on March 8.

Zebaztian Kadestam (12-4) headlined the bill as he locked horns with submission artist Georgy Kichigin (20-6). The Polish fighter put his One welterweight world title on the line, while Kichigin staked his 14-bout win streak. The fighter from Kazakhstan dominated the first round and a half of the bout. However, a short left elbow from Kadestam changed the course of the match. Eventually, the One welterweight champion defended his belt after Kichigin gave up just moments before the start of the third round.

The co-main event featured Myanmar’s Phoe Thaw (7-1) going toe-to-toe with Yohan Mulia Legowo (8-8). Thaw immediately took the action to the ground, where he proved to be the more dynamic and dangerous fighter in the contest. After gaining top position, Thaw started hammering the Indonesian with elbows and punches. In the end, the local hero took home the victory thanks to a referee stoppage in the last seconds of the opening round.

Additionally, Italian heavyweight Mauro Cerilli (13-3) defeated Alain Ngalani (4-5) in the opening stanza. Cerilli landed a couple of vicious knees to the head which forced the referee Olivier Coste to stop the contest at mark 2:30.

Elsewhere, Rene Catalan (6-2) smashed Japanese Yoshitaka Naito (13-2) and added the sixth consecutive win to his momentum. The Filipino put on a striking clinic to score a third-round TKO victory, which may earn him a title shot. Gurdarshan Mangat (14-2) crushed Finland’s Toni Tauru (11-7-1) via TKO (punches) at 1:23 of the third stanza. In the main card's first bout, Tial Tang (1-0) bested Rin Saroth (3-7) via unanimous decision.