Jackie Buntan open to moving to atomweight but still feels "strong and fast" at strawweight

ONE Championship Muay Thai strawweight competitor Jackie Buntan has emerged as one of the promotion’s top fighters in her division. With 23 career victories, Buntan has scored three wins inside the circle against notable opponents Nat ‘Wondergirl’ Jaroonsak, Ekaterina Vandaryeva, and Daniela Lopez.

At ONE 156, Buntan had the opportunity to compete for the division’s Muay Thai world championship, but fell short in her title bid, losing to Muay Thai prodigy Smilla Sundell via unanimous decision. Since then, many have questioned whether or not Buntan would make the move to atomweight and compete at a lower weight class.

Speaking to ONE, Jackie Buntan confirmed that she is comfortable competing as a strawweight.

“Yeah, I just have no plans of moving down in weight. I feel you know, I'm sure everyone notices, I'm always the shortest girl in the strawweight division. But I'm strong at that division.”

The American-born Muay Thai star is competitive in the strawweight division despite being undersized when compared to many of her opponents, but Buntan credits her speed and strength to fighting close to her natural weight.

“That's the closest to my natural weight. I feel I'm still fast. I'm still strong, and I'm healthy. So I have no intentions of moving down. But let's say that time is there then, yeah, I'll fight whoever's in my division.”

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Jackie Buntan talks about her first trip to the Philippines

Jackie Buntan was born and raised in the United States, but her parents and older siblings experienced life in the Philippines before migrating. As part of a project with ONE Championship, Buntan had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines for the first time and discover her Filipino roots. Speaking to ONE about the trip, Buntan said:

“Yeah, it was my first time there ever and I was able to go with my mom. So it made it even more special. I have three older sisters, they were all born and kind of raised there. I'm really like the first-gen American in my family who was born and raised in the US. So it was super special for me to be able to go back.”

Buntan said that the experience was humbling, having the opportunity to see first-hand the sacrifice that her family made to give her the opportunity for a better life.

“I think it really humbled me and gave me a bigger sense of gratefulness to be born and raised here and for what my family sacrificed in order to give us a better life here. Like it really did open my eyes so much and it made me understand my family as a whole and why we are the way we are. It really was a big realization of a trip for me.”