ONE Championship will decide its first-ever women’s strawweight kickboxing world champion this July.
Filipina-American star Jackie Buntan will take on one of the world’s pound-for-pound best strikers, Anissa Meksen, for the inaugural belt in the main event of ONE Fight Night 23 on Friday, Jul. 5.
Since losing her bid for Muay Thai gold in 2022, Buntan has been on a roll. She picked up a decision win over Amber Kitchen in Dec. 2022 and went on to score a first-round TKO win against Diandra Martin at ONE’s U.S. debut event, ONE Fight Night 10, last May.
Then in her latest outing, at ONE Fight Night 20 in March, the 26-year-old kept the momentum building with a decision win over Martine Michieletto. All this has led her to a well-deserved shot at greatness in July.
For Meksen, the World Title tilt will be a chance at redemption after she failed to capture the interim atomweight kickboxing crown against “The Queen” Phetjeeja last December.
“C18’s” world-class skills and long history at the top of the kickboxing world make her one of the biggest names in the sport.
She repeatedly called for a match against former ONE women’s atomweight kickboxing champion Janet Todd before the American hung up her gloves, but that match never came to fruition.
Meksen will have to settle for Buntan, Todd’s teammate, at ONE Fight Night 23 instead.
ONE Championship’s summer is set to quickly heat up with this exceptional clash of exciting female strikers for the inaugural ONE women’s strawweight kickboxing championship in July.
ONE Fight Night 23 airs live on Prime Video on Friday, Jul. 5. The event is free for all Amazon Prime members based in the U.S. and Canada, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.