Sundell Vs. Buntan II, Kelly Vs. Khan, Xiong Vs. Wondergirl Added To ONE Fight Night 14 On September 29
A pair of World Championship bouts and an innovative striking matchup have been added to ONE Fight Night 14: Stamp vs. Ham on Prime Video in Singapore, and those contests will feature some of the best women’s athletes on the planet.
Reigning strawweight Muay Thai queen Smilla Sundell will defend her gold in a rematch with Filipino-American star Jackie Buntan, while Danielle Kelly will face old rival Jessa Khan for the inaugural atomweight submission grappling crown live in U.S. primetime on Friday, September 29.
Plus, longtime ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan will go toe-to-toe with Thai prodigy Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak in a unique contest that’s designed with special striking rules.
Sundell has been invincible since making her promotional debut last year.
The Swedish teenage sensation knocked out Diandra Martin in February 2022 and then frustrated Buntan over the course of five rounds to claim the inaugural ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title just two months later.
In the process, Sundell – then 17 – became the youngest ONE World Champion in history.
Now, merely two months removed from her successful kickboxing debut, the Swede will return for her first World Title defense at ONE Fight Night 14, and it will come against a familiar foe.
Since falling to Sundell last year, Buntan has rattled off a pair of massive victories. The Californian defeated British phenom Amber Kitchen via unanimous decision in December 2022 and then finished Martin via first-round TKO this past May.
With some incredible momentum behind her, Buntan hopes to avenge her previous loss and win the richest prize in the sport in front of a U.S. primetime audience.
The card will also feature the first-ever ONE Women’s Atomweight Submission Grappling World Title fight, which will be contested by Kelly and Khan.
This is a rematch of their February 2021 battle – which Khan won via decision – but a lot has changed since that night.
Kelly signed with ONE Championship a year later and kick-started the rise of the promotion’s female submission grappling divisions.
The American first earned a performance bonus while battling two-time ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title challenger Mei Yamaguchi to a draw, before picking up victories over four-time Combat Sambo World Champion Mariia Molchanova and former ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Title challenger Ayaka Miura.
As for Khan, she went on to capture the 2023 IBJJF Gi World Title in the light featherweight division this past June, beating a field of 16 women to claim the gold medal.
And on September 29, the Cambodian-American looks to defeat Kelly once again and add a historic ONE World Championship belt to her trophy case.
In addition, ONE’s first-ever special rules striking contest will be hosted at ONE Fight Night 14, and the two participants come from brilliant stand-up backgrounds.
Xiong, who’s held the ONE Women’s Strawweight MMA World Championship since its inauguration in January 2018, was previously a member of the Chinese National Boxing Team.
Meanwhile, “Wondergirl” is a two-time Thailand Muay Thai Champion who competed in boxing matches as a youth. The 24-year-old made a successful transition to MMA last year and will return to compete in the all-around sport at ONE Friday Fights 26 on July 21.
For the special rules striking bout at ONE Fight Night 14, both participants will don 4-ounce MMA gloves and are only allowed to throw punches. That means kicks, knees, and elbows are prohibited.
If there isn’t a knockout or a stoppage, the bout will go to the scorecards. Judging and scoring will mirror the Global Muay Thai and Kickboxing Rule Sets using the 10-point-must system.
These two World Title clashes and special rules striking bout join the previously announced ONE Interim Women’s Atomweight MMA World Title fight between former two-sport queen Stamp Fairtex and decorated Asian MMA Champion Ham Seo Hee.
With a quartet of massive women’s showdowns atop the card, ONE Fight Night 14 is taking a lead from ONE: EMPOWER, the organization’s all-female event in September 2021 that featured the world’s best women’s athletes in multiple sports.
Stay tuned to onefc.com for more news about ONE Fight Night 14 on Prime Video.
