Jackie Buntan was delighted when she found out she would be fighting for the inaugural ONE Chanpionship strawweight title. But the American admits to being surprised by the choice of opponent,
“It was a flood of emotions I had a lot of gratitude when I was offered that bout, she said.
But Buntan is puzzled as to why opponent Smilla Sundell was handed a title shot after just one win,
“I have definitely been asked (about this) and one fight in the division or in the promotion and getting a title shot is a bit premature. There are definitely a couple of other girls that I would assume would be able to have the title (shot) given they were able to fight more for ONE Championship, versus just having one single fight.”
Very confident
Buntan has fought three times for ONE Championship and been the distance on each occasion. Her opponent has less than three rounds for the promotion but the American and her team have reviewed that fight footage closely,
“I watched her debut. The first thing I noticed is just the forward pressure she gave, the relentless push-through, push-forward style. And we’re more than certain that’s what she’s going to come in with. Just kind of bum-rush me.”
It is a style that Buntan is very confident she will be able to cope with,
“I’ll just say, with that come-forward, aggression type of style, it’s a careless type of style. There’s going to be holes. And I’m going to find those holes, basically. I’m more than ready for that pressure. I know she’s going to come in with it, so she can come run at me.”
Different level
Buntan acknowledges that the Fairtex fighter deserves a spot on the ONE Championship roster but feels that Sundell is simply not on her level,
“I’ll say she’s good enough to be fighting in ONE Championship, but I really believe I’m levels ahead of her in technicality, intelligence, speed, power, and all that. I’m really confident she hasn’t dealt with anyone like me before.”
She already dropped Muay Thai veteran Wondergirl Fairtex en route to a very one sided decision victory. Buntan is confident she will be able to do the same sort of damage to Sundell when they meet at ONE: ‘Reloaded’ next month,
“I think I’m going to run her into heavy and very damaging shots. Find the holes in that reckless, careless style of hers, coming in aggressively. I really do believe I’m able to find the holes and run her into things that’ll hurt her, and hopefully put the brakes on her.”
