“They gave me a hard time for good reason” - Jackie Buntan on family’s initial pushback regarding fighting career

Newly crowned ONE women's strawweight kickboxing world champion Jackie Buntan of the United States and the Philippines says her closest family and friends weren't really too accepting of her chosen career path initially.

Growing up in a typical Asian household, where children were expected to grow up to become doctors and lawyers, Buntan instead chose the hurt business and a life in the ring.

That was an interesting conversation with her loved ones, according to the 27-year-old California resident.

Speaking on a guest appearance on The Casuals podcast, Buntan talked about her family's initial rejection of her fighting career, and how they eventually got over it.

"They knew that they gave me a hard time for good reason. But yeah, it took like, maybe a year for them to actually realize, like, okay, she's actually kind of good at this. Maybe if we just let her do it and see where it her."

Today, Buntan has proven herself to be one of the most talented fighters on the planet. Now a ONE Championship world titleholder, the Filipina-American superstar is leading the charge for Filipina athletes in the world of combat sports.

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Jackie Buntan says family is now proud of her achievements: "They're like my number one fans now"

What's the best way to prove people wrong? Through action. And that's exactly what Jackie Buntan did to convince her closest family and friends that she was meant to be a fighter.

After initial pushback from her family, Buntan kept at her craft and eventually made it to the world's largest martial arts organization, ONE Championship. That's where she proved to her family that she was the real deal.

Buntan told The Casuals:

"Yeah, like my first fight in ONE Championship, that's when everything kind of just fell into place. They're like, Okay, she's legit about this. She's gonna do this. She has a promising career in it. And they're like my number one fans now."

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