Things are happening fast for Jackie Buntan. In the last few weeks she has featured on the front cover of a glossy magazine, made an appearance at a major soccer stadium and scored the fifth win of her ONE Championship career.
All the talk is about titles and Buntan is in a position to challenge for two of them after making it back to back wins. She beat Amber Kitchen in Manila last December and followed that up with a stoppage victory against Diandra Martin in Denver.
All the talk is about titles and Buntan believes she is in pole position to challenge for two of them,
I want to be a two-sport world champion in Muay Thai and kickboxing. Obviously, I did the Muay Thai fight last year. It didn’t go my way. That’s still on the horizon. But right now, I truly believe I’m the number one contender for both.
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Inaugural title
Her last defeat came at the hands of Smilla Sundell in a strawweight Muay Thai title fight. That match was not close and although the Norwegian teenager has yet to defend the belt it is unlikely she would be handed an immediate rematch with Buntan.
Buntan still wants that belt but her immediate priority is to challenge for the strawweight kickboxing title. That belt has yet to be introduced and she is desperate to become the first fighter to wear it,
In terms of kickboxing and why do I want to do it first, why do I want to do it now? It’s because I’m greedy and no one has it yet and I want to be the first one to have it.
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In the zone
Buntan was invited to attend the Los Angeles Galaxy match with San Jose last weekend. Her stock is clearly high following the win over Martin but she says years of hard work when into securing that stoppage,
I know my hands and power, and everything they are capable of. It was just a matter of time and repetition of perfect placement in terms of punching and getting the power back up. All the years of hard work and repetition all in one little quick second. It was just the best feeling ever.
Buntan’s five previous ONE Championship fights had all been the distance. But she says the knockout just came naturally at ONE Fight Night 10,
Athletes go through that feeling in the competition where they’re in the zone, in the flow, where everything’s just autopilot. It’s almost like you’re not even thinking. And I definitely experienced that from the start of the round, which was very cool because that was only my second time experiencing that.
Her teammate Janet Todd has held both the ONE Championship kickboxing and Muay Thai titles in the atomweight division. Buntan believes she can enjoy a similar level of success and hopes her next fight will be for a belt.
