ONE Championship returns to action on Friday night, but it won’t be in the venue where this week’s ONE 169 card was originally slated to be held. When ONE 169 was first announced, the promotion had booked the card for State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA.
Early last month, however, it was announced that the event would no longer originate from the home arena of the NBA‘s Atlanta Hawks, instead being shifted to Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Any ticket holders who purchased passes to the since-relocated card by way of Ticketmaster were refunded.
Subsequent to the move to Bangkok, ONE’s 2025 schedule of events was announced, including two cards taking place inside the United States, one on May 23 and one on Dec. 5. As far as the card itself for this week is concerned, live coverage of ONE 169 will begin Friday night at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT on Amazon Prime Video inside the United States and Canada.
If you’re planning on watching the show from the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sky Sports will carry ONE 169 live Saturday morning (UK time) at 1 am. All told, the final version of this event (barring any postponed or canceled fights) features 11 contests from across the combative disciplines, including MMA, Muay Thai and kickboxing.
Buntan and Meksen Fight to Become First Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing Champion To Begin Title Fight Tripleheader
Three title fights will occur at the top of the bill, including a history-making contest in kickboxing to begin the tripleheader. Originally booked to take place in July during ONE on Prime Video 23, Jackie Buntan (6-1 kickboxing, 6-1 ONE) and Anissa Meksen (103-6 kickboxing, 3-1 ONE Championship) square off Friday night during ONE 169. Buntan withdrew from the initial date due to injury.
At stake: The Inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing Championship. Like all kickboxing title fights, this one is an advertised maximum of five rounds at three minutes per round.
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The three-knockdown rule is in effect for this contest. Should a fighter knock her opponent down three times in a round or four times over the course of a match, that contestant wins by TKO.
Fighter Comparison
Heading into this title fight on Friday night, Anissa Meksen stands as the taller competitor at 5-foot-6, compared to the 5-foot-4 frame of Jackie Buntan. Buntan owns a 2.6-inch reach advantage (68 inches even to 65.4 inches) over Meksen.
Currently, the oddsmakers do not have money lines available for this particular fight. If you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening this week in combat sports, please wager responsibly.
Buntan Seeks to Bring Belt to America
Jackie Buntan enters ONE 169 on Friday having posted a record of 4-1 in her last five fights. Currently, she’s on a three-fight winning streak dating back to Dec. 2, 2022.
Most recently, she scored a unanimous decision victory after three rounds over Martine Michieletto (50-14-5 kickboxing, 1-1 ONE Championship) during ONE on Prime Video 20 on March 9. All of Buntan’s fights since joining ONE Championship’s active roster in February of 2021 have been under Muay Thai rules, however.
Recently, she talked to beyondkick.com about her upcoming kickboxing title bid.
“Ever since I was signed to the company, I’ve been pushing to compete in kickboxing, as well,” Buntan said. “After my last fight against Martine Michieletto, I personally messaged [ONE] and said, ‘Hey, I want a kickboxing fight, I want a kickboxing fight.’ Having it go straight into a title [fight] wasn’t shocking for me.”
While this fight won’t be a “home game” for Buntan like originally planned, she can still ensure that the title has a stay on American soil with a win on Friday night.
Can Meksen Bounce Back?
In the other corner, Anissa Meksen has gone 4-1 in her own right over the last five fights. Most recently, she saw a four-fight winning streak dating back to her days in GLORY Kickboxing get snapped due to a unanimous decision against Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom (208-6-3 kickboxing, 6-0 ONE Championship) during ONE Friday Fights 46 right before Christmas last year on Dec. 22.
While this is a fight for the inaugural women’s strawweight kickboxing championship, this is by no means Meksen’s first rodeo when it comes to competing in title fights. Prior to this, she formerly held straps in GLORY, ISKA, the WAKO, and a host of other promotions and organizations across combat sports.
She’s been down this road before. What happens now?
Analysis, Film Study and Prediction
With this being the maiden voyage for the women’s strawweight championship, expect both of these contestants to give everything they have on Friday night.
Look for Buntan To Fire Combinations
Jackie Buntan can disrupt Anissa Meksen’s gameplan on Friday in ONE 169 if she can throw and land combinations like she did against Amber Kitchen in December of 2022. Throughout the fight, she kept Kitchen guessing by converting on combinations, including one to knock her down in round three, though the referee did not give an 8-count.
As the third and final round neared its end, Buntan went upstairs with punches to the head. Her display was enough to net the victory on the scorecards after the final bell.
As long as she lands combos during ONE 169, Buntan will be golden.
Meksen Has Fists of Fury
In the other corner, Anissa Meksen is a vicious striker, as was illustrated during the second round of her fight against Cristina Morales in 2021. While the fighters traded shots during the period, Meksen opened up with a barrage of punches to the head to send Morales down.
Morales struggled to stand back up and could not step forward to continue the contest, resulting in the referee calling the fight off with 33 seconds to go in the round. If Anissa Meksen unloads with nasty shots on Friday night, this fight will be hers.
Final Thoughts
This is a magnificent contest to kick off the championship tripleheader. Be sure to tune in.
Prediction: Jackie Buntan by Unanimous Decision.
