"It seems like she continually gets stronger" - Janet Todd expects Jackie Buntan to walk away with championship gold at ONE 156

Janet Todd knows she's done more than enough to help Jackie Buntan in her upcoming title match.

Buntan will take on teenage phenom Smilla Sundell for the inaugural ONE women’s strawweight Muay Thai world title at ONE 156: Eersel vs. Sadikovic. The event will be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium this Friday, April 22.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Todd said that Buntan consistently improved throughout their daily training sessions. The reigning ONE women’s atomweight kickboxing world champion added that the Filipino-American striker is already well-equipped for her first world title opportunity.

‘JT’ said:

“Jackie continues to impress me with how much she improves with every fight. It seems like she continually gets stronger, has even better vision than she had before, better timing. I think she’s been excelling in every possible way, and it’s evident in her fights.”

Janet Todd added:

“Of course, I’m taking Jackie to win her title fight. Like I said, she’s improved her power and her timing, and I think she has both of those in her favor to win this fight or get a finish.”

Buntan and Todd are training partners at Bryan Popejoy’s Boxing Works Gym and it’s in the California facility that the two sharpened their craft.

Todd pointed out that Buntan already has close-up experience in how to win a world title. Buntan was in Todd’s corner when the American fighter defeated Stamp Fairtex in February 2020 for the strap.

“In terms of what I’ve imparted on her for preparation for this world title fight, she was actually one of my corners for my title fight against Stamp [Fairtex] – the first Muay Thai world title fight that I had. She got to see what happens behind the scenes and the preparation that I went into for that fight.”

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Janet Todd is keeping a close eye on Anissa Meksen

Todd may be busy helping Buntan, but she’s also keeping close tabs on the Muay Thai match between Anissa Meksen and Marie Ruumet.

Meksen, a multi-time world champion in both Muay Thai and kickboxing, has called out Todd several times since arriving at ONE Championship in late 2021.

Janet Todd is well-aware of Meksen’s callouts, but she’s more interested in the French striker’s match against Ruumet.

“I watched Marie’s fight with 'Little Tiger', and she’s really well-rounded. She’s able to transition from hands to elbows really nicely. And she’s really made a huge improvement since her other fights that I’ve seen online… What Anissa has to her advantage are her movement and her speed so, I hate making predictions, but I’ll be there, definitely watching them both closely.”