Jackie Buntan still can’t believe she is among the best martial artists in ONE Championship: “It's crazy to think that”

Newly crowned ONE women's strawweight kickboxing world champion Jackie Buntan of the United States and the Philippines still can't believe she is among the many elite martial artists on the stacked ONE Championship roster.

Despite having 26 pounds of gold draped over her shoulders, Buntan still can't comprehend that she's a titleholder in the world's largest martial arts organization, amidst many big names such as Rodtang 'The Iron Man' Jitmuangnon and Superlek 'The Kicking Machine' Kiatmoo9.

Being mentioned in the same sentence as those legendary names always gets Buntan excited.

Speaking to Val Dewar of DeWar Report on YouTube, Buntan said:

"Oh, man, there are too many, especially being in ONE Championship. It's kind of crazy like that. Like on fight week, it's kind of crazy looking around and realizing, we're all colleagues on the same platform. It's crazy to think that. But man, I'll just say, like, at least in ONE Championship, there are way too many athletes that I find too entertaining."

Buntan is coming off a unanimous decision victory over French-Algerian kickboxing superstar 'C18' Anissa Meksen at ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug on Prime Video. The event was broadcast live from the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of the event via replay on-demand with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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Jackie Buntan says transition to kickboxing has been surprisingly easy: "I still learn new things"

Jackie Buntan made a successful transition to kickboxing to win the strawweight belt. But while fans expected her to run into quite a bit of a learning curve, the 27-year-old says it has been surprisingly a simple move.

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."

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding Jackie Buntan's next fight.