Filipina-American striking star Jackie Buntan isn’t sweating her “underdog” role ahead of her showdown with kickboxing GOAT Anissa Meksen for the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing World Title.
The pair will be one of the four World Title clashes set for the massive ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug card inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 9.
Competing in kickboxing rules for the first time under the ONE banner after making a name for herself in the world of Muay Thai, the California native is coming into this fight confident.
“On paper, I’m the underdog. It’s my first kickboxing fight. She has more than double the experience. She’s a multiple-time World Champion,” Buntan said.
“So, for me, it just reminds me of going into my first fight with [Nat] ‘Wondergirl’ [Jaroonsak]. I was a big underdog, odds stacked against me, and that’s my motivation – just go out there and showcase a new style every time I fight,” she added.
“Showcase new adaptability, be better than my last performance, and win against one of the best kickboxers.”
Her power, according to Buntan, will still be her bread and butter against Meksen.
Though she won’t have the luxury of competing in 4-ounce gloves like she did in Muay Thai, she’s confident that her punches – especially her hooks – will give the French-Algerian fighter trouble all night long.
“I’m very confident in the strength and power that I have and the athleticism that I have,” Buntan said.
“I make sure to have no shortcuts when it comes to strength transitioning into technique. I want to make sure that I’m doing the technique correctly, with full power.
“I think, just like all my matches, that’s definitely going to be one of my strong suits. It doesn’t matter that the gloves are bigger; I think the strength is still going to be there.”
With a golden chance to join the best strikers in the world, Buntan isn’t about to let this moment pass.
“It would mean the world. Absolutely everything. You know, it’s the reason why I do this. There’s more to it, but that’s obviously the end goal, is you want to work toward something that solidifies your greatness, that solidifies your name in the sport,” she said.
“This is just the steppingstone, the first step in order to do that. I didn’t really see myself fighting professionally until my early 20s, though being able to have another chance to compete for a World Title in a different sport, it’s just an amazing opportunity that I do not take for granted at all. It means a whole lot of things to me. It’s a lifelong journey that I honestly feel like I’m just beginning.”
