“I was unfamiliar with it” - Jackie Buntan reveals she studied Savate to dissect the patterns of Anissa Meksen’s attacks

To better understand Anissa Meksen's style, Jackie Buntan spent a lot of her most recent training camp studying Savate.

For those unfamiliar, Savate is a French hybrid martial art that combines elements of Western boxing with various kicking styles. Unlike in Muay Thai where a fighter can use their knees, Savate only allows striking with one's feet.

With her most recent opponent coming from a Savate background, Buntan felt it necessary to learn as much as possible about the sport. During a conversation on the DeWar Report with Val Dewar, Buntan said:

"So, Anissa, she has a Savate background, and I took this camp to really understand Savate because I was unfamiliar with it, and understand the range they operate at, and they operate at a very long range, kicking rang".

Check out the full interview below:

Clearly, Buntan's game plan worked.

Despite it being her first time competing as a professional kickboxer, Buntan delivered an impressive five-round performance against Meksen at ONE 169 in Bangkok and walked away with a unanimous decision victory and the ONE strawweight kickboxing world championship.

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Jackie Buntan remembers the first time she discovered kickboxing

Initially, Jackie Buntan was introduced to Muay Thai by her brother who engaged in the sport as a means of staying in shape.

Since then, the Boxing Works star has carved out a career for herself in the art of eight limbs, but looking back, Buntan still remembers the first time she discovered kickboxing in California. Appearing on The Casuals podcast, Buntan said:

"I had no idea what I was watching, but, like, I don't know, it just looked so straightforward at a young age. I had no idea what it was, but I was like, this looks like these people are just straight up kicking each other, punching each other".

"Looks like so useful if I needed to use it. And yeah, I just googled the closest gym to me, which was Boxing Works, [near] Hermosa Beach and been with Boxing Works and Brian ever since."

Fully established as a two-sport star, Buntan fully intends to compete in both sports going forward. The only question that remains is, what's next for the strawweight kickboxing queen?

If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.