Buntan to fight for ONE strawweight title

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino mixed martial artist Jackie Buntan will get another shot at a championship.

Buntan will face Anissa Meksen for the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship next month, the fighting promotion said.

The two were earlier set to clash back in July, but an injury forced the Filipina to pull out.

This time around, they are set to battle it out at ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug inside Lumpinee Stadium on November 9.

Buntan is riding a three-match winning streak after securing victories over Amber Kitchen, Diandra Martin and Martine Michieletto the past two years.

The streak came after a unanimous decision loss against Smilla Sundell in ONE 156 back in April 2022.

If Buntan wins, she will be the first Filipino fighter to win either a kickboxing or Muay Thai crown in ONE FC.

However, it will be a steep mountain to climb as Meksen is expected to be a tough nut to crack, considering that she is a staple in the women’s pound-for-pound list in kickboxing.

She is coming off a loss against Thailand’s Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom last year.

ONE 169 will be headlined by a heavyweight championship bout between reigning MMA king Anatoly Malykhin and “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane.

Filipino Danny Kingad will also compete in the card as he fces Adriano Moraes in a flyweight MMA match.

Also in action is ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon as he defends his gold against Jacob Smith, while the long-awaited return of two-division ONE MMA World Champion Christian Lee also takes place that night when he puts his lightweight crown on the line against undefeated Turkish juggernaut Alibeg Rasulov.