“This is kind of a lot” - Jackie Buntan reveals she doubted herself in ONE Championship debut against ‘Wondergirl’

ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jackie Buntan has accomplished a lot since coming on board ONE Championship in 2021. However, Buntan shared that initially she had reservations about joining the promotion until she realized that it was just an opportunity too good to pass up on and just went for it.

The Filipino-American fighter made her promotional debut in February 2021 at ONE: Fists of Fury in Singapore. She took on then on-a-roll Thai fighter Nats 'Wondergirl' Jaroonsak in a strawweight Muay Thai battle and won by decision.

In an interview on The Casuals MMA podcast, which dropped in November, Buntan spoke about her first professional match against 'Wondergirl,' touching on how it came about and the decision to pick it up.

The 27-year-old Boxing Works standout said:

"It did. I thought about that completely. And I even talked with my coach, Bryan. I'm like, this is, like, a huge order. I was going against Wondergirl at the time, she was on a win streak, like TKO’d each girl. So I was like, this is kind of a lot.

"But I don't know. I think also coming off of COVID, it was kind of like, I guess I didn't really think about it too deeply. Like I knew it was there. I knew that was a fact. But I was kind of just like, whatever, let's just do it. After being locked up, I was like, if I say no to this, when am I ever gonna get this chance again? Really?"

Check out Jackie Buntan's comments below:

Jackie Buntan continued to achieve success after, winning six of her next seven matches. Her latest victory came in November earning her the inaugural ONE strawweight kickboxing world title with a unanimous decision victory over veteran Anissa Meksen.

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Jackie Buntan says constant improvement remains a priority for her

While she has achieved a lot of success in her ONE Championship journey to date, Jackie Buntan underscored that constant improvement remains a top priority as she moves on in her career.

She shared this in an interview over the DeWar Report by Val de War podcast earlier this month, saying:

"Yeah, that's really what it is. You said it perfectly. It's just the motivation to continuously get better. After every fight, even prior to winning the belt, even if I did win, I always knew there was so much room for improvement, so many places where I could improve and do better."

Following an eventful 2024, Jackie Buntan is looking to pick things up further in the coming year, including winning the currently vacant ONE strawweight Muay Thai world title.