Jackie Buntan Is a Fighter for a New Generation

Filipino-American world kickboxing champion Jackie Buntan’s confidence and discipline continue to carry her through the ring and beyond.

Jackie Buntan steps into the ring with the same quiet confidence she carries in everyday life. Her presence is magnetic, void of the bravado-driven energy often associated with fighters. Instead, it’s a confidence that’s steady, assured, and deeply rooted, one that makes you want to lean in, to understand the depth behind her calm.

At just 27, the Filipino-American kickboxer has already made history. She took on France’s Anissa Meksen, one of the sport’s most seasoned fighters, and emerged victorious, claiming the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship at ONE 169. “I was nervous signing the contract,” Buntan admits. “She’s a legend with 100 fights under her belt, and I have about 30 which means she has more than triple my experience.”

But nerves didn’t define her. As she prepared for the biggest fight of her career, something shifted. “My mindset was extremely different. It was less of, ‘Oh, this is a tall order,’ and more of, ‘I deserve this chance, and I deserve an opponent like her.’” On fight night, she was ready. “During warm-up, my coach and my agent were on edge, and I was all smiles. They kept asking if I was okay.”

For Buntan, the fight became more about embracing the moment. And that night, in what she calls her “perfect Cinderella story,” she walked away with the title.

But getting here wasn’t easy. Buntan had to endure setbacks, fight for her dreams, and more than anything, prove to herself that success is about trusting the timing of her own journey.

Born in Los Angeles, Buntan grew up in a family of Filipino immigrants who worked tirelessly to build a life in the U.S. “I have three older sisters. Along with my parents, they were really trying to adjust to the American lifestyle,” she shares. “We still had Filipino traditions and values, but my mom, along with work, tried speaking English a lot, just so she could practice.”

For much of her childhood, she never thought about being the only one in her family born in the U.S. It wasn’t until she got older that she fully grasped what that meant. “I really understood the privilege I had, being in the States. My mom and my sisters made that known for me.”

Her sisters took the conventional route, earning degrees and securing stable jobs. But Buntan felt pulled toward something different. “I made the jump to stop school and pursue fighting. That didn’t sit well with my parents or my sisters. It’s so unorthodox and unconventional,” she says. “My parents were like, ‘We came here so you could get a better life, pursue your education, get a good job and there I was, wanting to fight for a living.”

The path wasn’t easy, but she never faltered. “I was just so stubborn and driven, even at a young age. I had the same amount of confidence that I do now, that I could make a career out of this.”

That belief was sparked at 11 years old by something seemingly small: watching her sister’s boyfriend shadowbox. “He was training all these different martial arts for fun. I was watching him, and something clicked. I was like, ‘This looks so interesting.’”

That moment led her to Boxing Works in Los Angeles, where she met Bryan Popejoy, the only coach she has ever trained under. “I really stumbled across a hidden gem with Bryan and Boxing Works. That’s the only gym I’ve been with, the only coach I’ve had since I was 11,” she says. “He has an incredible eye for detail. He doesn’t try to change you as an athlete. He sees your strengths and builds from there.”

With relentless training and years of dedication, Buntan reached the pinnacle of her sport in 2023. “Sixteen years in the making, and I’m the inaugural ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion,” she wrote on Instagram. “A vision and dream I never gave up on. I knew it was already in my cards. I just had to trust in my own timing.”

But victories aren’t just about winning. Sometimes, losses teach the most valuable lessons.

In 2022, Buntan faced Smilla Sundell for the ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title in Singapore, a fight she had been working toward for years. At just 17, Sundell was a rising star, and their match became one of Buntan’s biggest challenges. “I had this perfect timeline in my head. I told myself, ‘I’m gonna be a world champion by 25.’ And this opportunity fell on my lap. I was like, oh my god, it’s all aligning in my cards.”

But that night, things didn’t go as planned. Sundell’s reach and relentless pressure led to a unanimous decision loss for Buntan. It was a painful but defining moment. “I put so much pressure on myself, and I was so worried about the outcome that I completely ignored the journey to get there,” she reflects. “What are timelines at that point? That was probably me just maturing at 25, realizing things don’t go as planned, especially in your mid-20s.”

That loss became a turning point. “I realized in that fight camp, I put so much pressure on myself, and I was so worried about the outcome that I completely ignored the journey to get there,” she says. “And the first sign of that was I was not having fun doing it.”

Her mindset shifted. “I was doing this by choice. No one’s forcing me to do this,” she says. “And kind of, when I have that mindset, things start to feel lighter. I get to have fun again.”

When she defeated Meksen in 2023, it wasn’t just redemption; it was proof that success isn’t about a rigid timeline, but about trusting yourself. “If you’re doing the work for yourself, good things will happen for you,” she says. And for Buntan, they did.

Growing up, Buntan didn’t see many women in combat sports to look up to. The industry was (and still is) overwhelmingly male-dominated. But she was fortunate to train alongside Janet Todd, a trailblazer who proved that strength and grace could coexist. “She retired exactly a year ago, in March 2024, but I’m still lucky enough to train with her.”

Todd’s work ethic was legendary, balancing a career as an aerospace engineer while fighting professionally. “She’s the hardest worker I know. She holds herself accountable, leads by example, and you just learn from her by watching how she trains,” Buntan shares.

Now, Buntan is that fighter for a new generation, proof that women belong in the ring, not just as competitors, but as champions. “There’s a quote: ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ I think we need more women headlining shows, more women on fight cards in general. The more consistency we have, the more opportunities will follow.”

For young girls who once wondered if they could step into the ring, Jackie Buntan is now the fighter they can see.

She’s an athlete, but that’s just one part of her. She loves fashion, enjoys being in front of the camera, and lately, she’s been getting more into skincare. “There are so many different routines. I’m just trying to pick and choose what I like,” she laughs.

For her, beauty isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about the people she surrounds herself with, the energy they bring, and the sport she loves. “People assume that because I fight, I have to be ‘tough’ all the time. But I’m just me. I can love combat sports and still enjoy dressing up.”

Even Muay Thai, with all its intensity, is a kind of beauty in itself. “It’s mental chess,” she explains. “To an outsider, it might look violent, but if you really break it down, it’s all about movement, precision, and strategy. There’s an art to it, it’s a beautiful sport.”

Outside of fighting, Buntan is just as dynamic. She unwinds by taking walks with her boyfriend and their dog Jack along the beach, going to music shows in LA, and indulging her love for food. “I also recently started doing heated yoga sculpt and absolutely love the mental and physical aspects of it,” she shares. She’s also drawn to branding and creative storytelling, seeing potential in fashion, wellness, and even hospitality.

She knows that when her time in the ring eventually ends, she won’t be defined by just one thing. “Fighting is a huge part of my life, but it’s not all of me,” she says. “There’s so much more I want to explore.”

At 27, Jackie Buntan has already carved out a space for herself in the world of combat sports. But her fight for visibility, for self-definition, for a life without limits is far from over. 

By CAROL RH MALASIG. Photographs by SARAH KRICK. Styling by ORETTA CORBELLI. Beauty Editor JOYCE OREÑA. Makeup: Kendal Fedail. Hair: Marc Mena. Producers: Alexey Galetskiy, Bianca Zaragoza. Beauty Writer: Bianca Custodio. Tailor: Oxana Sumenko. Photo Team: Maggie Overbaugh Production Team: Ivan Shentalinskiy. Talent Management: Shaun Ward.