Diandra Martin will be competing at ONE Fight Night 10 on Saturday. The Australian knows she won’t have the crowd in Denver behind her when she takes on American strawweight Jackie Buntan.
But that doesn’t bother her at all and she says the atmosphere at the 1st Bank Centre won’t affect her,
“To be honest, I don’t really care if people boo for me or cheer for me. I’m there to show people what I can do regardless of what you think of me.”
Her and Buntan have both been on the roster for a few years so Martin has had plenty of chance to assess her opponent’s strengths and weaknesses ahead of ONE Fight Night 10. She hints that she has identified something specific that falls into the latter category but won’t say what,
“I’m going to keep (that) to myself. I’m going to surprise people with this one.”
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Great fight
She was stopped by Smilla Sundell on her ONE Championship debut. But the Swedish teenager won the title in her very next fight which demonstrated just how difficult an opponent she was.
Martin is coming off a decision win over Amber Kitchen at ONE Fight Night 1 and thinks she surprised a few people with that performance,
“I surprised people against Amber (Kitchen). Many people thought Amber was going to walk through me and I came away with a unanimous points decision. I was definitely the underdog for that. I feel like I’ll be the underdog for this. But that doesn’t scare me.”
Buntan also has a win over Kitchen and a loss to Sundell on her record. The parallels between their respective careers are clear and Martin knows the American is going to test her but hopes to be able to reciprocate,
“I think Jackie will be a great fight. She’s got good stuff. She’s got good boxing and good movement. So she’s definitely going to test me, and then I’ll definitely test her.”
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Well prepared
She knows that Buntan could bring a few fans to the 1st Bank Centre for and is prepared for that,
“I’m happy to be the underdog. I’m happy to take on the big dog. Let’s go. It’s a good challenge. Just because you’ve got a bigger crowd doesn’t mean you’re better than me. That’s the way I see it.”
This will be just her third ONE Championship fight and it sounds like the 27 year old feels she has a point to prove,
“I’m ready to show everyone why I belong on the ONE world stage.”
Martin is making the 28,000 km round trip from Canberra to Denver in expectation rather than hope. The Australian believes she will have too much for Buntan and is looking to silence the crowd in Broomfield by beating the local favourite.
