Buntan wrests inaugural ONE strawweight kickboxing title

MANILA, Philippines -- Despite various roadblocks and speedbumps, Filipino-American mixed martial artist Jackie Buntan can now call herself champion.

Buntan, over the weekend, won the inaugural ONE strawweight kickboxing world championship after beating Anissa Meksen via unanimous decision during ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug.

The two fighters were supposed to fight back in July, but an injury forced the Filipina to pull out.

But with the bout finally pushing through, Buntan’s hands were raised at the end, becoming the first fighter with Filipino descent to win either a kickboxing or Muay Thai crown in the promotion.

In an Instagram post, Buntan said that it is, indeed, a dream come true.

“16 years in the making and I’m the Inaugural ONE Straweight Kickboxing World Champion. A vision and dream I never gave up on,” she posted on Instagram.

“I knew it was already in my cards- I just had to trust in my own timing. Facing a legend in the game makes the victory that much sweeter,” she added.

The 36-year-old Meksen earlier held several titles in muay thai and kickboxing.

Her loss against Buntan is her second straight in ONE FC. She earlier absorbed a decision loss against Thailand’s Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom.

Buntan also thanked her coach Bryan Popejoy.

“His belief, energy and time spent on me has been a big part of why I’ve kept this dream alive for so long. We started this thing together and I can’t see myself doing this without him. He deserves it all,” she said.

She also tipped her hat to her strength coach Nick Curson, her gym Boxing Works, and all those who supported her.

“Stay hungry, stay true to yourself and trust in your own timing. It’s unbelievable what you can achieve. I did THAT.”

Buntan is now holding a 7-1 win-loss record in ONE FC. Her only loss came against Sweden’s Smilla Sundell back in 2022 for the ONE Strawweight Muay Thai world championship.

During ONE 169, Filipino Danny Kingad absorbed a submission defeat against Adriano MOraes in a Flyweight MMA bout.

A day before, Filipino fighters Fritz Biagtan, Carlos Alvarez and Islay Erika Bomogao also won their respective matches during the ONE Friday Fights 86 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.