Jackie Buntan recalls how she left Taekwondo and shifted to Muay Thai: “I could have gone the more traditional route”

Jackie Buntan is already one of the top female Muay Thai artists on the planet, but she wouldn’t have taken the sport if not for the persuasion of her brother-in-law.

In an interview with Alex Wendling, Buntan recalled how she and her family would look for martial arts gyms near their neighborhood in California.

The first gyms they found were dedicated to Taekwondo, and the young Buntan was already content with enrolling in the discipline. That was until the husband of one of her sisters showed her Muay Thai.

Buntan said:

“You know, it was really weird. Like you said, I could have gone to the more traditional route with taekwondo. Here there were actually like two studios within a mile radius of my house at the time, Taekwondo studios, that is. But I don’t know, my brother-in-law who was training Muay Thai told me to you know here's a quick little YouTube clip so I was watching it and even at a young age.”

That mindset shift and her brother-in-law’s influence prompted the Filipino-American star to turn her focus to The Art of Eight Limbs.

While it wasn’t her initial intention, the decision paid off drastically for Buntan, and she’s now one of the top Muay Thai contenders in ONE Championship.

The 26-year-old signed with the promotion in 2021 and quickly became a force on the global stage.

After a three-fight winning streak to start her tenure, Buntan faced Smilla Sundell for the inaugural ONE women’s strawweight Muay Thai world title at ONE 156 in April 2022.

Although Buntan dropped to a unanimous decision loss, the setback hasn’t affected her stock.

Buntan bounced back with a dominant unanimous decision win over Amber Kitchen at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022 and a superb first-round knockout finish of Diandra Martin at ONE Fight Night 10 this past May.

Watch Buntan's entire interview below: