Jackie Buntan shares how she started her fighting career: “It was the coolest thing ever”

Newly crowned ONE women's strawweight kickboxing world champion Jackie Buntan of the United States and the Philippines wasn't like all the other young girls growing up.

The 27-year-old Boxing Works product says she was far more interested in punching other girls in the face, after instantly falling in love with Muay Thai and kickboxing after experiencing it in the gym for the first time.

Buntan told Val de War in a recent guest appearance on DeWar Report on YouTube:

"I started training when I was 11, so it's been 16 years now. In terms of how I got into Muay Thai, I was definitely a tomboy at that age. I was just always outside, doing whatever outside activity I could, biking, skating, soccer, whatever, and I wanted to do martial arts, but I didn't want to do taekwondo or karate. It didn't really interest me."

Buntan added:

"My brother-in-law was training in Muay Thai at the time, just as a hobby. He's the one who really introduced me to it. He was like, I think you might like this. He really liked it at the time and showed me a couple of moves. And I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I thought it looked so like, it sounds funny saying this, but that's really how I thought [when I was] that young. I was like, this looks so straightforward and beneficial. If I had to use it, I totally could. So yeah, the rest is history. That's how I started."

Jackie Buntan says transition to kickboxing rule set was "quite smooth"

Starting her ONE Championship career out in Muay Thai, Jackie Buntan is now the strawweight kickboxing queen. While adapting to a new rule set would understandably be challenging, Buntan says it went a lot better than expected.

She told DeWar Report:

"I think the only difference was the volume, the cadence, along with the different game plans we were working on, not to say it was a smooth and super easy camp, you know, I still learn new things and how to take time to get those things ingrained in my arsenal, but in terms of the transition, it was quite smooth for me. Especially in the fight. I didn't have an inkling to want to clinch or elbow or anything of that sort. I think it was kind of ingrained into my style at that point."