Swedish mixed martial artist Zebastian “The Bandit” Kadestam (8-2) has been in the fight game for five years.
Fighting the majority of his career with top regional promotion Pacific Xtreme Combat, Kadestam slowly went through the ranks and eventually copping the promotion’s welterweight championship back in 2014. However, after making his first title defense last March 2015 against Han Seul Kim, “The Bandit” went back home to Sweden.
Contrary to what people think, the Legacy Gym-Boracay standout did not come back home for a vacation. Instead of having a good time, he trained with top European prospects in the famed Pancrase Gym in Stockholm to further hone his craft. “I’ve been home for Sweden for six months now. The guys I’ve trained with walk around at 90 to 100 kilos. So I had to step up my game or else they’re going to smash me,” the PXC Welterweight Champion shared with Tiebreaker Times.
“So I’ve been training hard and these guys in Sweden are no joke. I’m training with UFC fighters and bigger fighters.”
One of the fighters he trained with was current UFC Middleweight Magnus “Jycken” Cedenblad (13-4). Kadestam admitted that training with UFC-caliber fighters was like swimming with sharks everyday but it vastly helped improve his ground game. The Swede though lost his bout against Hakon Foss last September during the ninth event of Swedish-promotion IRFA.
Making his match awaited return to the PXC, Kadestam threw all of his frustrations into one punch to knockout Glenn Sparv in just 11 seconds. “It was in my mind but I can’t say that I will finish him in the first round. But the fight occurred and I’ve done it before with the first punch. This time I was like, ‘I’m going to throw fucking hard at him from the get go.’ I was waiting, waiting, finding my spot then BAM!,” an animated Kadestam shared.
“He stepped right into it.”
Kadestam though was disappointed that the fight did not last long. According to him, the gameplan was to showcase his new-found grappling and wrestling but the opportunity for a knockout just came by. “It could’ve gone five rounds but the first punch did it.I trained my ass off. I don’t have any injuries so I can fight soon again. But I didn’t get to show my improvements. This fight didn’t go to the ground, not a lot of wrestling. I wanted to show the work I’ve been doing on the ground,” he added.
“But if they fall, they fall. What am I going to do about it?”
Fresh off signing a new deal with PXC, he is hoping to fight twice this year and hopefully come back to Manila. “I just signed a new contract until the end of this year. Hoping to fight two more times this year. Hopefully one in Manila and one in Guam,” he said with one of his likely challengers being Frank “The Tank” Camacho (18-3).
“Frank talked about it with the PXC and we talked about it. He’s been around and I like the guy. He’s a nice guy and a tough test. I’m the champion so they want to come at me. If they get the shot, I’m down for it. That will be a fun fight for the fans.”
“After that, hopefully UFC.”
A call-up from the Ultimate Fighting Championship is the ultimate dream of any fighter. Even in losing in Sweden, one of the top strikers in the region is hoping that he could impress in his next two bouts to force the inevitable. “I just lost my last fight and I know the UFC is not going to call me. I need to win my next two fights then UFC won’t have a choice. I’d be the best ranked guy in Asia and in Finland,” the PXC Champion closed.
