SUMMARY
- Anissa Meksen will fight Jackie Buntan at ONE Fight Night 23.
- It will be for the first-ever ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing World Title.
History will unfold when ONE Fight Night 23: Buntan vs. Meksen on Prime Video arrives next month. On Friday, July 5, Jackie Buntan and Anissa Meksen vie for the first-ever ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing World Title at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
As one of the best pound-for-pound strikers on the planet, Meksen has always surrounded the World Title picture. “C18” has plenty of belts to her name in both Muay Thai and kickboxing, but ONE Championship World Titles have eluded her – now she wants to change all that this summer.
In her last outing, Meksen came up short to “The Queen” Phetjeeja at ONE Friday Fights 46 in December for the ONE Interim Atomweight Kickboxing World Championship, and now she has the chance to right the wrongs and capture the strap one division higher.
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“This is a moment I’ve been waiting for so long, and I can tell you I’m preparing like never before to bring the belt home,” Meksen said on Instagram.
While Meksen has firmly established herself as a striking great, her adversary Buntan is on her way to creating a legacy of her own.
Jackie Buntan is having a dream run
Filipino-American star Jackiee Buntan arrived in ONE with plenty of excitement surrounding her, and she has certainly lived up to the hype, amassing a promotional record of 6-1.
Buntan has proved she’s cut from a different cloth since entering the world’s largest martial arts organization. She kickstarted her promotional tenure in 2021, defeating Nat Jaroonsak, Ekaterina Vandaryeva, and Daniela Lopez.
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Those back-to-back-to-back clinics earned her a shot at becoming the first-ever ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion against Smilla Sundell at ONE 156 in April 2022. Unfortunately, the Swedish superstar had Buntan’s number that night.
Outside of that defeat, Buntan has been flawless. She’s taken the lessons learned against Sundell and has since implemented them into her skill set to win all three outings against Amber Kitchen, Diandra Martin, and Martine Michieletto.
“Who said the girls aren’t entertaining?! It’s been a minute but I’m so happy to get back in the ONE Championship ring and live out my passion,” Buntan said on her Instagram account. “Time to keep this momentum up and stay busy!”
Now, Buntan’s upcoming World Title fight gives her a chance to honor her retired teammate and former ONE Atomweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing World Champion Janet Todd. If Buntan can claim some gold of her own in the main event of ONE Fight Night 23, it will show the evolution of her skill set.
