"Her wrestling is not as good as my teammates’" - 'Wondergirl' on Zeba Bano bout at ONE 157

Nat ‘Wondergirl’ Jaroonsak may be a newcomer to mixed martial arts, but she’s not afraid to lay down the verbal smackdown ahead of her match against Zeba Bano.

‘Wondergirl’ will make her MMA debut against Bano at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on Friday, May 20. The card will be broadcast from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Muay Thai and kickboxing star had to wait for a bit to make her full transition into MMA, but she’s already taking shots at her undefeated opponent.

In an interview with Dylan Bowker for ONE Championship, Jaroonsak said that Bano’s grappling doesn’t compare to the wrestling pedigree her teammates at Marrok Force have.

She pointed out that Bano may have more experience in MMA, but Jaroonsak feels she can take her on in any aspect of the sport.

Nat Jaroonsak said:

“I’ve been watching her fights a lot and my coach Richard [Godoy] watches as well. We think we can handle it, of course, she’s fought in MMA longer than I have but I have Muay Thai [where I have] almost 60 fights. I’m a striker, she’s a striker too and her grappling and wrestling are not good as my teammates', I think I can handle this. I also have skills in BJJ [Brazilian jiu-jitsu] as well. I’m not scared if she takes me down or we go into the ground game.”

Nat Jaroonsak has primarily fought in Muay Thai in her ONE Championship career to date, with her two wins against KC Carlos and Brooke Farrell coming by way of knockouts.

The 23-year-old is also a two-time Thailand National Muay Thai champion, which she accomplished before she made her way to ONE Championship.

Bano, meanwhile, holds a professional record of 6-0 with four of her wins coming via KO

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‘Wondergirl’ gives tips to Bano on how to stop her

Nat Jaroonsak’s confidence heading into her MMA debut is at such an all-time high that she even gave Bano a piece of advice on how to beat her.

The Thai striker said that if she were Bano’s coach, the obvious gameplan would be to take the fight to the ground and neutralize her striking.

“I would tell her to, ‘Take 'Wondergirl' down and do the ground and use grappling instead of striking.’ I think she’ll exchange strikes with me for a whole round, but who knows. If I’m her coach I’d tell her to, ‘Take 'Wondergirl' down and play the ground game instead.’”

We'll find out if Bano follows those tips when the pair share the circle this Friday at ONE 157.