Former ONE welterweight champion Zebaztian Kadestam produced a blistering finish to knock out Croatian KO artist and former two-time KSW champion Roberto Soldic at ONE Fight Night 10 in Colorado.
The welterweight bout between Kadestam and Soldic was billed as a clash of knockout artists, and the action lived up to the hype as the pair traded huge shots through the opening round before Kadestam hit the jackpot early in the second to score a thrilling knockout victory.
Kadestam opened up looking sharper as he mixed up punches with leg kicks, but Soldic soon settled into his rhythm and began to walk down the Swede, throwing his famed left hand with vicious intentions.
As the round progressed, Soldic consistently found a home for his shots as he connected clean on Kadestam on multiple occasions and forced the former champion onto the back foot for large parts of the round. Eventually, when the bell sounded to end the round, Kadestam returned to his corner bleeding from a cut above his right eye.
But Soldic’s success in the first round proved to be his undoing in the second as, buoyed with confidence after a good finish to Round 1, came out swinging hard in Round 2. But, despite wearing damage on his face, and walking on a suspected broken foot, Kadestam was still very much in the fight, and he struck early to turn the bout on its head.
A perfectly-timed counter elbow connected flush on Soldic as the Bosnian-born Croatian stepped in to land a big punch. The shot dropped Soldic to the mat and sparked a wild scramble as he looked to get back to his feet, while Kadestam blitzed him with an array of strikes.
Eventually, a rapid-fire salvo of shots found their mark to send Soldic down the canvas as referee Herb Dean waved off the fight just 45 seconds into the round.
Kadestam’s win puts him right back into the championship picture in ONE’s welterweight division. For Soldic, it’s back to the drawing board as he continues his search for his first win in ONE Championship.