{"id":455035,"date":"2026-02-05T07:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/455035\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T07:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:50:14","slug":"jackie-buntan-confident-of-win-in-exciting-feb-13-rematch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/455035\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackie Buntan Confident Of Win In Exciting Feb. 13 Rematch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reigning ONE Women\u2019s Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jackie Buntan is ready to defend her gold against Austrian rival Stella Hemetsberger in the main event of ONE Fight Night 40<\/a>, which goes down in U.S. primetime from Bangkok\u2019s Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, February 13.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old Filipino-American is looking to even the score after falling to Hemetsberger in their ONE Women\u2019s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title fight last September.<\/p>\n

Jackie Buntan brings a 27-7 record into her first title defense after capturing inaugural kickboxing gold with a November 2024 victory over the legendary Anissa Meksen. The 27-year-old Austrian challenger carries a 9-1 record into the tilt, having made her promotional debut in 2024 and capturing the vacant Muay Thai crown to become Austria\u2019s first-ever ONE world champion.<\/p>\n

Jackie Buntan Analyzes Narrow Muay Thai Defeat Ahead of ONE Fight Night 40
\n\"Jackie<\/a>Image Courtesy of ONE Championship.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on their 2025 clash for the vacant ONE Women\u2019s Strawweight Muay Thai World Championship, Jackie Buntan discussed the disappointment of falling short in her pursuit of two-sport glory. The kickboxing queen admitted losing by a single point despite believing she won the better exchanges throughout their five-round battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat night was a big night for me \u2013 obviously, trying to chase double gold, two-sport World Champ status. It didn\u2019t go my way. I lost the fight by a point. I think I had the better exchanges, but on the scorecards, mathematically, she was the one who was able to pick it up,\u201d the Californian stated.<\/p>\n

The September loss marked Jackie Buntan\u2019s second promotional setback across nine appearances. Her 7-2 promotional slate includes impressive victories over accomplished strikers including Nat Jaroonsak, Ekaterina Vandaryeva, Amber Kitchen, and Meksen, establishing her credentials among strawweight striking\u2019s most decorated competitors.<\/p>\n

Kickboxing Queen Jackie Buntan\u2019s Resilience Shines After Early Knockdowns<\/p>\n

After suffering two first-round knockdowns in their initial encounter, Jackie Buntan showed a warrior\u2019s heart<\/a> by rallying in the final four stanzas of the contest. The 28-year-old framed her recovery as embodying her competitive identity and refusal to surrender despite adversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat specific loss, especially how it happened \u2013 getting knocked down twice in the first round but staying in it and picking it up in rounds two through five \u2013 I think that\u2019s the definition of me as a fighter, as an athlete. There\u2019s no quit in me,\u201d Buntan said.<\/p>\n

The rematch provides Buntan an opportunity to prove her narrow Muay Thai defeat was rule-specific rather than indicative of overall inferiority. A successful title defense would validate her kickboxing supremacy while positioning her for another Muay Thai title shot if she can convince the Austrian to accept a trilogy bout under Muay Thai rules.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Champion Identifies Defensive Vulnerabilities in Austrian\u2019s Technique<\/p>\n

Analyzing their upcoming kickboxing rematch, Buntan revealed specific defensive holes she has identified in Hemetsberger\u2019s striking game. The Filipino-American expressed confidence in her superior footwork and ability to exploit those vulnerabilities through movement and angle-cutting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she has holes. I see the holes she leaves open as she strikes, both punching and kicking. I think I\u2019m better with movement. I\u2019m able to cut her off, whether that\u2019s going backwards, left, right, circling, or going forward. If she wants to stand in front of me, I think it\u2019s a dangerous game,\u201d Buntan said.<\/p>\n

Hemetsberger seeks champ-champ status by adding kickboxing gold to her Muay Thai crown. The Austrian\u2019s pursuit of two-division dominance<\/a> creates a compelling storyline, as both fighters chase the same goal that motivated their initial September encounter.<\/p>\n

ONE Fight Night 40 airs live on Prime Video on Friday, February 13. The action begins at 8 p.m. ET\/5 p.m. PT. The event is free for all Amazon Prime subscribers in the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reigning ONE Women\u2019s Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jackie Buntan is ready to defend her gold against Austrian rival…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":["post-455035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}