WATCH: Filipino-American star Jackie Buntan keeps it sharp ahead of ONE Fight Night 23 with retired legend Janet Todd
Jackie Buntan is making sure that no stone is left unturned when she faces Anissa Meksen in the biggest fight of her career. With that in mind, she's getting help from a contemporary of her legendary opponent.
The Filipino-American star is putting in the work at Boxing Works with her training partner and recently retired legend, Janet Todd.
The pair have been training partners for the entirety of Buntan's ONE Championship career, and the former ONE atomweight kickboxing and interim Muay Thai world champion seems to be passing every bit of her knowledge to her younger teammate.
Buntan and Todd's head coach Bryan Popejoy shared a snippet of the two training with each other on Instagram ahead of ONE Fight Night 23.
"Playing around with things. @jmcoakle @jackiebuntan drilling, not today," posted Popejoy on Instagram.
Buntan once contended for the inaugural ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world title but lost in her bid for the throne against Smilla Sundell in April 2022.
She recovered from that loss with three straight wins against Amber Kitchen, Diandra Martin, and Martine Michieletto to earn her shot at the inaugural ONE women's kickboxing world championship.
Standing in the way of Buntan's world title aspirations is French-Algerian superstar Anissa Meksen. 'C18' is often regarded as one of the best female strikers of all time, and she wants nothing more than to claim her first piece of ONE Championship gold and her total eighth world title.
Jackie Buntan and Meksen will headline ONE Fight Night 23 on July 5, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
The entire ONE Fight Night 23 card is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Smilla Sundell glad to see Jackie Buntan earn another shot at ONE Championship gold
Smilla Sundell and Jackie Buntan put on one of the most entertaining world title fights of 2022 when they battered each other for the inaugural ONE women's strawweight Muay Thai world championship.
Although Sundell ended up with the gold, she remained highly respectful of her rival and is happy that Buntan got another shot at a ONE world title.
Sundell told the South China Morning Post she's proud to see her old rival compete for the inaugural ONE women's kickboxing world championship against Meksen in Bangkok:
"Anyone who steps in the ring with me. I think Jackie is, for sure, a good challenge for me. I'm happy she gets to fight for the kickboxing belt now," said Sundell.