Jackie Buntan will step into the ring for the first time since the death of her father when she challenges Austria’s Stella Hemetsberger for the ONE strawweight Muay Thai world title.
They will fight at Bangkok's famous Lumpinee Stadium, live on SportNews in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Filipino-American, who already holds the organisation's strawweight kickboxing world championship, has acknowledged that the untimely passing of her dad, Jessie, in December has changed her outlook on life and competition.
His death came just a month after she celebrated the biggest win of her career - a unanimous decision victory over legendary French-Algerian striker Anissa Meksen to claim the strawweight kickboxing world title.
What should have been a period of joy was instead followed by heartbreak, and Buntan admits that grief still lingers as she returns to action in Thailand.
For much of her career, Buntan fought to prove her place on the global stage. With her father's passing, however, her perspective has shifted. What began as a personal pursuit is now rooted in something far more meaningful.
"Combat sports, sports when it's just you in there, it's a very selfish, selfish sport. You have no one else to blame but you, and you're honestly doing it for yourself, and that's kind of how I was up until a year ago when I lost my father. And that's my reason why now," she said.
That determination is mixed with an honest recognition of the waves of grief that still come unexpectedly.
Even to this day, she still battles with the thought of losing him.
"Grief is - the best way I can explain it - is it's a trip. It's ongoing, and it comes in different waves. It comes in different emotions and, again, I don't think it's ever going to go away. It comes up randomly at the weirdest times," she said.
However, the 28-year-old has also found strength in opening up publicly about her loss, choosing to share her story so others going through the same struggle know they are not alone.
Buntan usually keeps her private life away from the spotlight, preferring to let her fighting career and training updates do the talking. But after refusing to speak on the matter for several months, she finally felt compelled to use her platform to connect with fans who might be suffering with the same pain.
"It was important to share it," she explained, "so other people who've had similar journeys or are experiencing it know that they're not alone.
"Anybody in any walk of life can experience this, unfortunately. I know there are fans, people who follow me, who have that same experience that I had."
Jessie's pride in his daughter's success had grown steadily during her meteoric rise.
At first, he struggled to understand why she would choose to compete in combat sports, but that changed when her fights began making headlines in the Philippines. After her breakout win over Nat "Wondergirl" Jaroonsak in 2021, he realised how far she could take her career.
"For me, it was like: 'Oh my God, this is big. I'm in ONE.' But for him, he's like: 'Oh, my God, I saw you on ABS-CBN', this news channel in the Philippines. That's when he realised: 'she's a star,'" Buntan said.
Although he rarely watched her compete live - unable to stomach the thought of his daughter getting hurt - he supported her in every other way.
The more Buntan won, the more her dad calmed down. By the time she rattled off three straight victories in 2021, he understood she could not only survive but thrive in the ring.
"We're Filipino. The biggest love language is food. He'd always make sure I was eating. If I visited him, he tried to feed me food. I know those were big things for him, that he was watching out and that he cared for me," she said.
"But apparently, as I progressed in my career, the more he sat back and relaxed. In his head, he's [thinking:] 'Okay, she's pretty good, she keeps winning, and maybe I don't have to be so worried.'"
Through every step of her journey, Jessie's influence remained a constant - from shaping her discipline outside the ring to giving her the quiet assurance that someone was always in her corner. Those small but steady gestures are what Buntan now carries with her into each fight, long after his passing.
Now, as she prepares to fight Hemetsberger for a second world title, Buntan says her motivation comes from the bond she shared with her father.
"A part of it of course ego wise, you want to be the best in the world, you want all the accolades and all that," she said. "But it's really to continue making my dad proud, continue making him happy."
Watch Jackie Buntan fight Stella Hemetsberger for the ONE Championship strawweight world title live on SportNews Mix from 2am on Saturday morning.
