Jackie Buntan and Anissa Meksen will do battle for the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing Championship at ONE 169, as first reported by The Sporting News.
The two striking stars were initially scheduled to meet in July, but Buntan withdrew to an undisclosed injury. With Buntan healed and ready for action, the bout joins the star-studded lineup on Friday, Nov. 8, in Bangkok, Thailand.
The strawweight clash is an extraordinary matchup for all martial arts fans. Both women are at the top of the game and will leave everything in the middle of the ring to become the inaugural titleholder at strawweight, especially after their last title bids.
Meksen has captured gold everywhere she has been, except ONE Championship.
The French-Algerian began her promotional career with three consecutive victories but failed to grab the atomweight kickboxing crown against Phetjeeja at ONE Friday Fights 46.
This will be Buntan’s second crack at inaugural gold. The Boxing Works talent failed to grab the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title in 2022 against Smilla Sundell. Since that loss, Buntan has been lights out with three straight wins.
This kickboxing title tilt even has a little bit of spice added to the matchup.
Since arriving in ONE, Meksen had called out Buntan’s friend and teammate, Janet Todd. Meksen questioned whether the Southern Californian was ducking her, and the match never came to fruition before Todd hung up the gloves.
Now, Buntan has the chance to avenge her friend and take out one of the sport’s luminaries, all the while with gold hanging in the balance.
ONE 169 airs live and free to all Amazon Prime members based in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, Nov. 8, on Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.