“A whole lot of new things” - Jackie Buntan says she needed to overhaul her striking after transitioning to kickboxing
Jackie Buntan's first foray into kickboxing was a smashing success.
After making a name for herself in the art of eight limbs with big wins over the likes of Nat 'Wondergirl' Jaroonsak, Ekaterina Vandaryeva, Amber Kitchen, Diandra Martin, and Martine Michieletto, the Boxing Works star strapped in the eight-ounce gloves for a kickboxing clash against seven-time titleholder Anissa Meksen.
Battling it out for the inaugural ONE women's strawweight kickboxing world championship, Buntan entered the bout as an underdog in the eyes of many—understandable considering it was her first-ever boxing match.
But despite that, Buntan looked near flawless in her performance and walked away with a unanimous decision victory and her first 26 pounds of ONE Championship gold.
In a recent interview with the promotion, Buntan offered some insight into how she seamlessly transitioned from Muay Thai to kickboxing inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.
"The biggest thing I took away when I started this camp over again, really. Because it's my first kickboxing fight," Buntan said. "Yes, there's some strengths into my actual style that play well, but there's still a whole lot of new things too that had to be implemented in this camp. Not just with strikes, but stylistically, cadence, defensively, everything."
Jackie Buntan planning to compete in both Muay Thai and kickboxing
Though Jackie Buntan's kickboxing debut couldn't have gone much better, the American isn't planning to put Muay Thai behind her anytime soon.
In fact, Buntan likes the idea of dabbling in both worlds—defending her shiny new belt before once again dawning the four-ounce gloves on martial arts' biggest global stage.
"The goal is to keep defending the kickboxing belt, then dabble with both kickboxing and Muay Thai in terms of who I want to fight. I'm not really thinking about anyone or focused on anyone."
That begs the question, what's next for Buntan? Or more accurately, who's next?
If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.