FIL-Am fighter Jackie Buntan recently paid a visit to the Philippines for a project with One Championship, allowing her to reconnect with the homeland of her parents.
"It was a quick trip. It was initially brought up to me by the One team to do a little project with them. I figured if I had the time, why not see family I haven’t met before," said Buntan, who has never been in the country before despite being the daughter of natural-born Pinoys.
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"I wanted to be able to meet my dad’s family and my mom’s family – both sides. And I was able to see them even though it was a super short amount of time," she said.
"In general, everything was great. All the people were great, [and they] treated [me] so respectfully and humbly, and [everyone] was just so welcoming. I had a really fun time out there."
The 25-year-old Buntan is still waiting for her next fight.
For now, she's happy to root for her teammate and reigning One Atomweight Kickboxing World Champion Janet Todd as the latter takes on Lara Fernandez for the interim atomweight Muay Thai title in One 159: De Ridder vs. Bigdash on July 22 in Singapore.
“I think if Janet doesn’t stop her, Janet’s going to win in dominant fashion, [and win] all rounds really. Or [she’ll win most of the] rounds. I definitely see Janet being victorious in this one,” Buntan said.

Todd has been an inspiration for Buntan as she aspires to follow the footsteps of her Boxing Works stablemate.
“Win or lose, even if she’s not competing, she’s so driven and she’s always finding a way to improve,” she said. "She’s still improving so much and that’s not because our coach is making her. She genuinely wants to be better than she was the previous day. I think that’s what sets her apart. I’ve never met anyone else with her work ethic."
"I think she can go down as one of the greats as an athlete due to her work ethic," she said.
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