Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak says “my dream’s coming true” ahead of MMA debut
Nat “Wondergirl” Jaroonsak makes her highly anticipated MMA debut at ONE Championship’s May 20th event.
A 50-fight Muay Thai veteran and two-time national titleholder, the highly accomplished combat sports veteran spoke with the promotion’s officials ahead of this weekend’s ONE: 157 contest where she will face undefeated strawweight Zeba Bano.
How does it feel to be making your ONE MMA debut?
“I feel super happy. I’ve been waiting for this for years. Finally, my dream’s coming true. I thought I was going to start MMA with a small promotion first, but then I got the chance to fight in ONE. This is amazing – I’ll take it.”
Are you more excited for your ONE MMA debut compared to your ONE Muay Thai debut?
“I was about to retire in Muay Thai years ago. Then I started training with Fairtex [before moving to Marrok Force], and I was expected to fight in MMA, not Muay Thai. But then ONE gave me a Muay Thai contract, which was a good opportunity for me. ONE is the biggest promotion in Asia and in the world. It was a great opportunity, so I took it. Yeah, but I really wanted to fight MMA. But that’s okay, they gave me an opportunity, so I took it. Now that I finally got an MMA contract, I’m so happy.”
What excites you about making your ONE MMA debut?
“The marketing is way bigger [in MMA] than it is Muay Thai. And it will challenge me, too, because I’m a striker, and MMA is kind of a new sport in Thailand. Muay Thai fighters, most of them, are scared to try it out. They’re scared to do grappling, BJJ, and wrestling because it’s kind of new for us. And it’s been challenging for me to spend my training in grappling and wrestling classes – not just Muay Thai two times a day. I train a lot more and spend almost half of my time on grappling to improve my skills, which has challenged me a lot. Also, MMA in Thailand is getting [more popular than it was] back then. I barely had any knowledge about MMA before. Now it’s [becoming more popular] in Thailand. It’s really my motivation to fight in ONE as a Thai MMA fighter. I’ll do my best.”
