ONE Championship flexed its martial arts muscle in its U.S. debut earlier this month. The organization gave the American audience a taste of Muay Thai in four-ounce gloves. One of the key athletes supplying the flavor was California native Jackie Buntan.
Buntan opened the main card on Prime Video with a brilliant first-round TKO victory over Diandra Martin. The Boxing Works star pushed the pace and quickly broke down her opponent. For Buntan, it was only the second time she had felt everything come together perfectly in her career.
“Athletes go through that feeling in the competition where they’re in the zone, in the flow, where everything’s just autopilot. It’s almost like you’re not even thinking. And I definitely experienced that from the start of the round, which was very cool because that was only my second time experiencing that,” Buntan told ONE.
The finish marked the first knockout for Buntan in ONE. While waiting for that finish may have been frustrating, the Southern Californian never wanted to force the issue. She knew she always had the power and simply needed to let the hard work pay off inside the Circle.
“I know my hands and power and everything they are capable of. It was just a matter of time and repetition of perfect placement in terms of punching and getting the power back up. All the years of hard work and repetition all in one little quick second. It was just the best feeling ever,” Buntan said.
The quick win gave her back-to-back wins and placed her right back at the top of the strawweight pecking order. With Swedish star Smilla Sundell reigning at the top, Buntan wants to get revenge against the only woman to give her a professional loss. But she hopes that will come after she collects another title.
Much like her Boxing Works teammate, Janet Todd, Buntan wants two-sport glory. In her post-match interview, the American stated she wanted to tackle the kickboxing world as well. If she can grab gold there, that is when she would prefer to mix it up with Sundell for the Muay Thai strap.
“I want to be a two-sport World Champion in Muay Thai and kickboxing. Obviously, I did the Muay Thai fight last year. It didn’t go my way. That’s still on the horizon. But right now, I truly believe I’m the number one contender for both,” Buntan said.
Buntan is done being quiet. She puts it plainly why she is attacking the kickboxing world next. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, as the adage goes.
“In terms of kickboxing, why do I want to do it first, and why do I want to do it now? It’s because I’m greedy, and no one has it yet. And I want to be the first one to have it versus taking my time and being quiet about it.”
