Rising star Isi Fitikefu has been adding names to his hit list since joining ONE Championship’s welterweight MMA ranks in 2022, and he’s relishing the thought of putting former divisional king Zebaztian Kadestam on it next month.
“Doxz” is set to meet the Swedish knockout artist on Saturday, 3rd May, at ONE Fight Night 31: Kongthoranee vs. Nong-O II, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium, and a win could put him on track to glory.
Fitikefu will enter the welterweight MMA clash on a two-fight winning streak after submitting Valmir Da Silva and snapping Hiroyuki Tetsuka’s five-fight unbeaten run in his last two promotional outings. But Kadestam will represent a significant milestone for the Tongan-Australian terror.
“When I first signed with ONE Championship, I had few people in my mind that I wanted to fight, and Zebaztian Kadestam was one of them because I knew he was one of the good guys in the division,” he said.
“And I’m willing to go out there and beat this guy.”
Across his eight-year tenure in ONE, all of Kadestam’s victories have come by knockout, including his win over Tyler McGuire to claim the ONE Welterweight MMA World Title in 2018.
The Swedish slayer is on a three-fight winning streak thanks to his punching power, which Fitikefu is well aware of.
Nonetheless, he remains undaunted. MMA has many dimensions, and “Doxz” is out to prove he’s a level above Kadestam in all of them on 3rd May.
“He’s good everywhere. But like I always say, he’s good, but I’m better. I know I am better. I believe in it. If no one believes that, as long as I believe in myself and I do what I have to do out there, I know I’m going to win,” Fitikefu said.
“I know in this sport I’ve got to mix it up, hit them hard, mix up the grappling, mix it up. Nonstop pressure. And I know he’s going to come with his A-game. He’s tricky. Totally tricky, but he’s good, but I’m better. Like I always say, ‘Every fight, they’re good, but I’m better.’”
