“I actually listened to myself” - Filipino-American star Jackie Buntan glad to have taken time off at the end of 2023

Jackie Buntan gave nearly her entire life to martial arts, so it came as a surprise to many when she decided to take a bit of time off at the tail end of 2023.

The Filipino-American star revealed in an interview with Sportskeeda MMA that she decided to temporarily leave the stressful world of competition and dedicate time to herself.

Buntan said she initially felt at odds with her decision but ultimately decided to listen to herself and do what was best for her professionally and personally.

Jackie Buntan said:

“I think taking that time off was just being honest with myself and being selfish with decisions. I think within sports, especially within combat sports, the mindset is to keep going no matter what, which is true. But there are times when you do have to take a pause, and that was like a big moment in my life that I actually listened to myself.”

The 26-year-old was scheduled to challenge Smilla Sundell for the ONE women’s strawweight Muay Thai world title in September 2023, a rematch from their April 2022 encounter, but decided to pull out of the ONE Fight Night 14 card.

Buntan cited family reasons as to why she decided to leave the card.

There’s no official announcement when Jackie Buntan will climb back into the cage, but she kept up her training routine at her home gym of Boxing Works in California.

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Jackie Buntan reflects on stellar ONE Championship career

Jackie Buntan always knew a career as a professional fighter is always a fickle endeavor, but things couldn’t have worked out better for her.

In a previous interview with ONE Championship, Buntan recalled how downtrodden she was after her professional debut in 2019 fell through.

Buntan was unsure what to do next, that was until ONE Championship came to offer her a contract.

She said:

“Then I made my pro debut and it was like a funny story. I was supposed to do that at the end of 2019, make my pro debut here or in San Diego, actually. But that fell through, unfortunately. Usually that's not a good thing but fortunately, it fell through and I got two offers after for signing into two different professional promotions, one being ONE Championship. So it's kind of, you know, one thing fell through a bigger thing opened up. I had a bigger thing opening up for the future so it kind of worked out for me.”

Buntan arrived at ONE Championship in February 2021 and has now racked up an impressive 5-1 record.