Jackie Buntan (right) had no problems connecting against Wondergirl Fairtex on Friday night. —PHOTO COURTESY OF ONE CHAMPIONSHIP
Jackie Buntan wanted to introduce herself to Filipino fight fans.
Now, she wants to fight a ONE Championship match in front of them.
“I think I put my name out there and made people know who I am,” Buntan said after upending Wondergirl Fairtex of Thailand during a strawweight muay thai bout in the promotion’s Fists of Fury showpiece in Singapore on Friday night.
Buntan said after feeling the support somehow of Filipinos, she would love a crack at fighting in Manila once the coronavirus pandemic is somehow corralled.
“I literally felt I had a whole nation rooting for me back at home. I really felt that with me and I took that to the cage with me,” she said. “I’m excited to get in there again.”
And based on what she showed against the Fairtex, a Thai prodigy who had been making remarkable strides in the promotion, the 23-year-old Filipino-American would be a thrill to watch.
Even ONE championship big boss Chatri Sityodtong, who also happens to be adept in several martial arts disciplines, was in awe.
“I was most impressed with Jackie … She delivered a highly technical performance with outstanding precision, speed, and power against one of Thailand’s best Muay Thai champions in (Wondergirl). Congratulations on a perfect debut, Jackie!” Sityodtong wrote on Facebook just moments after the event.
Buntan floored Fairtex with a hook near the end of the first round and was dominant the rest of the way en route to the unanimous victory.
“That check hook, I’ve been working on it both sides as a southpaw [and] orthodox … we expected her to come straight in with shots, and I kind of just remembered it in my head that if she’d come in, I’d have that check hook waiting for her. And it worked out,” Buntan said.
“We expected her to come with guns blazing. In her past two fights, she’s usually firing straight shots. She’s seemed a little more patient, timid this time around. But that wasn’t a problem at all.”
“Once I got into the cage and we touched gloves, everything kind of slowed down. I really kind of thought I was in that flow state and just felt like home,” added Buntan, who masterfully worked around her size disadvantage in the bout.
“I knew she was extremely taller than me. I’m 5 feet, 4 inches, and she’s like 5 feet, 9 inches. But [it] wasn’t really an issue at all. We did work, making sure that if I threw my hands, I’d step in with both feet,” said Buntan. INQ