"I'm a heavy puncher and I kick a lot" - Jackie Buntan on having a 'perfect' switch from Muay Thai to kickboxing

Despite the enormity of debuting in kickboxing against one of the finest to ever do it, Jackie Buntan admits she didn't have to make drastic changes to her game with her Muay Thai weapons at near-perfection.

At ONE 169 last month, the Filipino-American striker met multi-time world champion Anissa Meksen for the inaugural ONE women's strawweight kickboxing world championship.

All eyes inside the Lumpinee Stadium were on whether she could adjust to the bigger gloves and the ruleset. Although she struggled to find her rhythm at the start, the Boxing Works representative impressed as the fight wore on.

Buntan fired on all cylinders, and by the end of five rounds of action, she was declared the new divisional queen of the strawweight kickboxing division.

Reflecting on the fight and the adjustments she made leading up to it, Jackie Buntan told Val de War that her usual "Art Of Eight Limbs" weapons allowed her to tackle the transition like a duck to water. She said:

"You know, I wasn't too hesitant with the transition, especially being my first kickboxing fight, just because if people have watched my style, my fights, and my professional career, it transitions very well into kickboxing. I'm a heavy puncher and I kick a lot, kind of perfect boxing and kicking. So the transition was super well."

Watch her full interview on DeWar Report's YouTube channel here:

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Jackie Buntan shooting for two-sport glory in 2025

As she embarks on a new year in the form of her life, with four successive victories on the global stage, Jackie Buntan is eager to add the division's Muay Thai crown to her collection.

Buntan's first fight for the 26 pounds of gold in the discipline didn't go well as she went down to Swedish powerhouse Smilla Sundell by unanimous decision at ONE 156.

Having made steady improvement since that encounter two years ago, the California native wants another attempt at the title in her bid to become a two-sport world champion.

She told Beyond kick previously:

"The goal is to keep defending the kickboxing belt, then dabble with both kickboxing and Muay Thai."