Giant Slayer Jackie Buntan Excited to Topple ‘Another Tall Girl’ in Diandra Martin

Strawweight Muay Thai star Jackie Buntan aims to make a statement in the opening bout of ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III on Prime Video when she squares off with Diandra Martin in an intriguing matchup with serious implications for the ONE Women’s Strawweight World Title picture.Through five electrifying fights inside the Circle, the Filipina-American has lost just once – a decision loss to divisional queen Smilla Sundell last April at ONE 156. 

Set to go down on May 5 at 1stBank Center in Colorado – ONE’s historic debut show in the U.S. – Buntan hopes to earn another shot at the ONE Women’s Strawweight World Title with a strong performance against Martin.

Jackie Buntan lauded the spirit of coming back stronger in her opponent Diandra Martin

Both women are coming off hard-fought victories over English Muay Thai standout Amber Kitchen following defeats against Sundell. From what she’s seen of her foe, Buntan was impressed by Martin’s skillset and her ability to bounce back from a loss.

 The 25-year-old from California said of her opponent, “I only really heard of her when she joined ONE Championship, and those were the only fights I’ve watched from her, when she fought Smilla [Sundell] and also when she fought Amber [Kitchen]. I think after every loss, it depends on what you do with it, but I think she definitely came back better fighting Amber. She showed a lot more of her arsenal, her tool set.” 

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 Against Martin, Buntan will find herself at a significant size disadvantage, giving up 4 inches in height and 5 inches in reach.

Jackie Buntan predicted that her opponent would look to capitalize on her size advantage

But with 30 professional fights under her belt, the Boxing Works representative has seen it all and likely won’t be fazed when navigating the Australian’s long limbs. Buntan added, “She’s another tall girl. She has long legs. I think her strengths would be, it’s hard to tell because I’ll be honest, I haven’t even watched that Amber fight since it was live. I need to go back and just rewatch it, too.”

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“So I can’t tell you the exact strengths, but I would probably say maybe capitalizing her range. Those are the little things I remember from at least the Amber fight.”