Nat
M
uay Thai sensation Nat "Wondergirl" Jaroonsak will return to the ONE Championship Circle in ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on Friday, May 20 – but she will not be competing in her usual discipline.
The Thai star will make her long-awaited debut in mixed martial arts (MMA), facing off against India’s Zeba Bano in a strawweight contest inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
"Wondergirl” has been impressive in her ONE tenure thus far. She scored stoppage victories against Brooke Farrell and KC Carlos in her first two fights, and her only loss has come at the hands of recent ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Title challenger Jackie Buntan.
The Marrok Force standout is confident ahead of her upcoming fight, and she feels certain that she has the skills it will take to defeat Bano.
“I’ll win this fight by rear-naked choke in the second or third round,” she said.
“Wondergirl” has been eyeing a switch to MMA for some time now. She has already earned a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and has even won medals in BJJ competitions.
The 23-year-old star knows her stand-up game is something she can always rely on, but she wants to show the world that her skills on the ground are just as dangerous.
“I have confidence in my striking, so she’s going to be aware of my strikes, for sure. But as I said, I’ve been training in MMA for two years, and I don’t have just striking. I know how to submit,” she said.
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In Bano, she will face a dominant competitor who has proven herself in the all-encompassing sport. “Fighting Queen” will be making her ONE debut, but she racked up a perfect 6-0 professional record before signing with the Singapore-based promotion.
Of those six wins, four came by way of technical knockout and one by rear-naked choke, so the Indian athlete has shown she can get the job done on the feet and on the ground.
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This article is published in collaboration with ONE Championship