Former ONE Championship welterweight champion Zebaztian Kadestam is set to make his Oktagon MMA debut against Dominik Humburger in a middleweight co-main event bout at Oktagon 87 on April 25th. Kadestam expressed his enthusiasm for competing in what he considers “enemy territory,” as Humburger is a crowd favorite in the Czech Republic.
Kadestam feels this matchup is a fitting next step after his tenure with ONE Championship, stating, “I’ve been having some big fights over at ONE and it feels appropriate that I should have big fights moving on. It’s a big task and I’m up for it. I’m ready. I’m excited.”
Regarding competing away from home, Kadestam revealed, “I never performed good at home. Most of my fights have always been away. But I think this is going to be one of the biggest. Like probably I’m going to feel that. I’m in his hometown and I don’t know, I kind of like the idea of that. So, I’m going to feed off that energy. So it’s going to be good.”
Explaining his decision to leave ONE Championship and sign with Oktagon MMA, Kadestam noted the European promotion’s growth and opportunities. “They’re doing good in Europe. They’re doing big, big shows, big arenas, and they got good fights. We have a few teammates signing up. Yeah, it seems like a good step going forward.”
Looking ahead, Kadestam is eager to add Oktagon MMA gold to his collection. “Yeah, pretty much [laughs]. I want to get that welterweight gold in Oktagon as well. But we’re doing a middleweight fight now and we have a tough opponent. So let’s see. Let’s get this one cleared out first.”
He clarified his reasoning for fighting at middleweight despite eyeing a future welterweight title run. “In ONE, I always fought at 185, but the weight, how they measure the weight classes, are a little bit different. My last one in MMA was at ONE at light heavyweight though. So I kind of got to get used to cutting the weight again. Cuz I’ve been with ONE since 2017. So, I kind of have to get used to cutting weight again in a normal way. So, I think middleweight is good, but I feel like welterweight is where I [am] supposed to be.”
Kadestam also cited inactivity as a primary factor in his departure from ONE Championship. “Yeah, pretty much activity. I had one MMA fight in the last three years. So it feels like I got to get moving. I got to get going. But I’ve had good years over there. Very good years. It’s been a hell of a ride and good memories. But I got to get active and yeah, fighters fight. That’s what we do. So, I got to get active.”
