ONE Championship has released four fighters from its roster, with former MMA world champions Adriano Moraes and Zebaztian Kadestam among the departures.
Heavyweight Mauro Cerilli and featherweight Ilya Freymanov are also included in the latest round of roster cuts.
The Bangkok Post understands the quartet were informed they are no longer with the promotion, and also told they could be welcomed back in future should they rebuild momentum elsewhere with wins outside the organisation.
Their roster pages on ONE’s official website have been updated to reflect their status.
All four competed in mixed martial arts during their time in ONE. Two are former world champions. All exit the promotion having lost their most recent fight.
Moraes is the most high-profile name of the group.
Ilya Freymanov went 2-1 during his time in ONE Championship_s featherweight MMA division
The 37-year-old Brazilian leaves as a former two-time ONE flyweight MMA king and one of the most significant fighters in the division’s history.
He shocked the sport in April 2021 when he knocked out Demetrious Johnson in the second round, handing the legendary American one of the most memorable defeats of his career. Johnson responded by stopping Moraes in the fourth round of their rematch in August 2022 to reclaim the title, before settling the trilogy by decision in the main event of ONE’s first on-ground US event in Denver in May 2023.
After Johnson retired and vacated the belt in 2024, Moraes appeared to have one more run left in him. He submitted Danny Kingad in November 2024 to earn a shot against Yuya Wakamatsu for the vacant title in Japan the following March, but lost by first-round TKO.
He did not return to the Circle after that defeat and leaves ONE with an 11-6 record in the promotion, having lost three of his last four bouts.
Kadestam also departs as a former titleholder.
The 35-year-old Swede first challenged for the ONE welterweight MMA title in 2017, suffering a second-round TKO loss to Ben Askren, but returned the following year to claim the belt with a stoppage victory over Tyler McGuire in November 2018.
He lost the title by decision to Kiamrian Abbasov in October 2019 and was never quite able to force his way back to the top of the division, despite flashes of the danger that made him champion in the first place.
Most notably, Kadestam scored a stunning second-round knockout of Roberto Soldic in 2023 that briefly revived hopes of another title run. But a planned fight with fellow contender Isi Fitikefu last year fell through when he failed to pass hydration and make weight. His final appearance came in October 2025, when he moved up to middleweight and was stopped in the second round by Aung La N Sang in the Myanmar icon’s retirement fight.
Kadestam leaves ONE with a 7-5 record.
Freymanov exits as a former title challenger.
Mauro Cerilli leaves ONE Championship with a 3-4 record in the heavyweight MMA division
The 30-year-old Russian looked like one of the promotion’s more dangerous featherweight prospects when he entered the picture in 2022, stopping Martin Nguyen and then Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg inside the first round to earn a shot at gold.
But that momentum vanished almost instantly when Thanh Le submitted him with a heel hook just 62 seconds into their interim featherweight MMA title bout in October 2023.
Freymanov never returned after that defeat and leaves ONE with a 2-1 record.
Cerilli, meanwhile, leaves after a longer and more uneven run in the heavyweight division.
The 43-year-old Italian last fought in February 2025, when he suffered a leg injury during a first-round TKO loss to Kirill Grishenko.
He leaves the promotion with a 3-4 record.
For Moraes and Kadestam in particular, the departures mark the end of notable chapters in the promotion’s MMA history.
Both reached the top.
Now both move on.
