At a young age, inaugural ONE women's strawweight kickboxing world champion Jackie Buntan copied most of her likes and dislikes from her two older sisters' interests. However, her affinity for combat sports did not come from either of them.
The Filipino-American standout recently sat down with The Casuals for an interview, where she talked extensively about the roots of her combat sports journey.
Buntan mentioned:
"I'm the youngest of three older sisters. So this is my - at the time - my older sister's boyfriend, husband now. But, I was the youngest sister. Whatever music they listened to, I would listen to, whatever like they liked, I liked. So I was kind of just picking off whatever I saw as a younger sister. And yeah, martial arts just stuck with me, really."
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Watch the entire interview here:
Jackie Buntan left a strong impression on ONE fans after dominating 'Wondergirl' Nat Jaroonsak in her professional Muay Thai and promotional debut in February 2021.
After winning her next two bouts, Buntan fought Smilla Sundell for the inaugural ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai crown in April 2022 but ultimately lost via unanimous decision.
The Boxing Works product rebounded by producing another three-fight winning streak before capturing the inaugural women's strawweight kickboxing world championship over the legendary Anissa Meksen last November.
Jackie Buntan keen on maintaining work/life balance
Jackie Buntan enjoys competing but also ensures that she has time for herself and enjoys the fruits of her labor by staying home.
In an interview with Val Dewar, the Boxing Works product shared:
"You know, training takes up so much of your life, but I do have, for a long time, I've been able to have a good balance of athlete life and my life outside of that. But, yeah, I tend to be a homebody."
Watch the entire interview here: