“A bigger thing opened up” – Jackie Buntan grateful ONE opened doors for her after uncertainty early in her career

Jackie Buntan established herself as one of the more intriguing prospects in the amateur Muay Thai ranks after posting a blistering record of 20 wins to just five losses.

Such performance did not go unnoticed by those in ONE Championship, and the Filipino-American prodigy would officially debut for the Singapore-based combat sports promotion in February 2021 against Nat ‘Wondergirl’ Jaroonsak at ONE: Fists of Fury.

Buntan, then 23, would prove that her skills were legit, overcoming the Thai star en route to a unanimous decision victory.

She would recount the path she took to becoming a part of the ONE Championship roster in a recent interview:

“Then I made my pro debut and it was like a funny story. I was supposed to do that at the end of 2019, make my pro debut here or in San Diego, actually. But that fell through, unfortunately. Usually that's not a good thing but fortunately, it fell through and I got two offers after for signing into two different professional promotions, one being ONE Championship. So it's kind of, you know, one thing fell through a bigger thing opened up. I had a bigger thing opening up for the future so it kind of worked out for me.”

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Jackie Buntan grateful for coach's foresight

Prior to her professional debut, Buntan credited her head coach, Bryan Popejoy, for letting her know when it would be the perfect time for her to join the upper echelons.

Buntan's early success against the likes of ‘Wondergirl’, Ekaterina Vandaryeva, and Daniela Lopez would allow her to face then-17-year-old phenom Smilla Sundell for the inaugural ONE women's Muay Thai strawweight world championship.

However, she fell victim to the lanky Swede after a five-round firefight.

Since then, she has bounced back with two big wins against Amber Kitchen and Diandra Martin - the latter being her first career knockout win.

Buntan was also on track for a rematch with Sundell but pulled out for personal reasons.