“A game-worthy fight” – Jackie Buntan up to the task of facing ‘tough girl’ Martine Michieletto

Jackie Buntan is always up for challenges inside the ONE Championship Circle, and she expects Martine Michieletto to deliver just that when they go toe-to-toe at ONE Fight Night 20.

The American striking specialist meets the Italian dynamo in a 130-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest on the promotion’s International Women’s Day 2024 showcase, set to go live from the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 8.

Jackie Buntan has studied tape on the Fighting Club Valle d’Aosta star to prepare herself for her seventh task on the global stage, including the latter's debut win over British ace Amber Kitchen.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, she concluded:

“She's a tough girl, you know. I saw her last fight in ONE last year with Amber [Kitchen]. Obviously, southpaw, has good linear movement. But, yeah, you know, regardless of anyone stepping in the ring in ONE Championship's going to be a tough fight. A game-worthy fight.”

Watch the full interview here:

On paper, this matchup looks set to be a test of styles inside the Mecca of Muay Thai.

‘The Italian Queen’ is a multi-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion who racked up those accolades with crunching power in her fists.

While Jackie Buntan may lack a bit of finesse, the Boxing Works native does not crumble under pressure. Her weapons get more potent the deeper a match goes, as she proved in her four wins in ONE.

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Jackie Buntan open to mixed-rules fight next

At the top of her to-do list under the ONE Championship banner is a rematch for the ONE strawweight Muay Thai world championship gold against divisional queen Smilla Sundell.

That isn’t the only thing the 26-year-old fighting out of Boxing Works has her eye on, though.

In the same interview, Jackie Buntan admitted that she would fancy a special-rules clash or a mixed-rules contest much like the Nieky Holzken-Yoshihiro Akiyama contest, or the iconic Demetrious Johnson-Rodtang Jitmuangnon firefight.

She said:

“Yeah I think that's, you know, down the line for sure. Whether, you know, I'm kind of letting the cards play as it goes out especially with ONE having multiple rulesets now, I think maybe I could squeeze in a couple fun fights maybe, you know? for sure kickboxing.”

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE Fight Night 20 card live and for free in U.S. primetime this Friday, March 8.