Jackie Buntan credits strong bond with Janet Todd as key to success: “We make each other better” 

Top strawweight Muay Thai contender Jackie Buntan will certainly miss helping her friend and mentor, Janet Todd, prepare for future fights after she retires this Friday.

The two superstars have always shared a common passion for Muay Thai and kickboxing when they trained at the Boxing Works gym in California. Even before Buntan took Muay Thai seriously, she would often help Janet Todd prepare for big fights time and time again.

When it became Buntan’s turn to compete, Todd returned the favor by mentoring her as her protégé. Since that time, they’ve become an inseparable duo. You can’t talk about Janet Todd’s successful career without mentioning Jackie Buntan in the same sentence or vice versa.

“It’s the cliché saying of iron sharpens iron,” Jackie Buntan told ONE. “We make each other better. We feed off each other's energy. And I think that's the root of our progress. The root of our growth is being able to work together. We both individually have good days and bad days.”

On International Women’s Day, Buntan will appear on Janet Todd’s fight card at ONE Fight Night 20 for the first and final time.

The Filipina-American striker is set to face Martine Michieletto in a potential world title eliminator bout for the Muay Thai gold in the strawweight division. Meanwhile, Todd’s retirement fight is scheduled to take place in the main event against interim kickboxing champion ‘The Queen’ Phetjeeja.

ONE Fight Night 20 will air live on US Primetime on March 8, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.

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Jackie Buntan confident in her abilities against Italian southpaw Martine Michieletto

Jackie Buntan expects to win her next strawweight bout against Martine Michieletto when they face each other at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

It’s been a little over ten months since we last saw Buntan take the stage. Since her original rematch against Smila Sundell fell through, we haven’t heard from the Boxing Works representative until now.

As with all fights in ONE Championship, Buntan faces another tough matchup with Michieletto, who’s great at collecting championship belts. But Buntan doesn’t feel the least bit nervous. She expects nothing less than a win come Friday night.

She told ONE:

“I expect to come out on top, that’s for sure. How it happens? I’ll leave it up to whatever- I’m not one for predictions. But I’m confident in my skillset, my ability.”