Buntan sidelined due to injury; ONE Kickboxing title shot postponed

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino-American fighter Jackie Buntan’s shot at the inaugural ONE strawweight kickboxing title will be pushed back due to an injury.

The 26-year-old Buntan suffered an injury a few weeks before she was set to face Anissa Meksen for the title.

The two were supposed to battle in the main event of ONE Fight Night 23 on July 6 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

But with the injury, which will keep the Fil-Am striker for several months, the opportunity will be shelved in the meantime.

Buntan, however, is hopeful that she will be able to return to action by the end of the year.

She earlier absorbed a tough unanimous decision loss against Sweden’s Smilla Sundell back in 2022 for the ONE strawweight muay thai world title.

Since then, she has won three straight matches – a unanimous decision win over Amber Kitchen, a TKO victory over Diandra Martin and another unanimous decision triumph over Martin Michieletto.

Though Buntan is expected to be out for several months, she is hoping to return to action by the end of the year.

With this development, Ok Rae Yoon and Alibeg Rasulov will now be the main event of the card.

The South Korean Ok, the former ONE lightweight MMA world champion, will try to climb back to the top of the division as he awaits the return of his rival Christian Lee in active competition.