Zebaztian Kadestam will capitalize on loss to Ben Askren to win vacant title

Zebaztian Kadestam says he will capitalize on his loss to former ONE Championship welterweight champion Ben Askren to secure the vacant title on Saturday.

Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam is gearing up to face Tyler McGuire at ONE: WARRIOR’S DREAM but it’s a loss that has him haunted, and also taught him the most in his long MMA career.

Kadestam faced ONE Championship welterweight champion Ben Askren at One Championship – Shanghai in September 2017 and lost the bout with the undefeated champion via a second-round TKO

“This defeat was the best learning experience of my career because during my whole camp I was learning so much to prepare for Ben’s wrestling. It meant I developed as a martial artist just through the process of doing my training camp,” Kadestam told ONE Championship. “In the bout, I could see what he was trying to do, and his answers to what I was trying to do. Every 10 seconds, there was something he was doing that I could learn from. He was one step ahead of me in the whole bout, and I learned so much from experiencing that.”

Kadestam will take these lessons and carry them into his fight with McGuire where the pair will fight for Askren’s vacant title.

“I think my wrestling game has improved and changed completely as a result of that bout, and I am seeing it in my training. I get to a position and think: ‘How did I get to this position?’ It is from my experience of competing against Ben.”

He isn’t fresh off his loss though, Kadestam followed up his loss to Askren with a win over Agilan Thani. He’s looking to use the momentum from the Thani fight, and the knowledge from his Askren fight to take on McGuire.

“I’ve been training for these kinds of guys for so long, so I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’ve been training hard, and I feel good, so I feel confident for this fight,” he said.

Kadestam vs. McGuire takes place on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, for the vacant ONE Championship welterweight title in the main event of ONE: WARRIOR’S DREAM at the Stadium Istora in Jakarta, Indonesia.