Stella Hemetsberger recaps her impressive 2025: “Last year was amazing”

Six months transformed Stella Hemetsberger from ONE Friday Fights competitor to divisional queen.

Hemetsberger challenges Jackie Buntan for the ONE Women’s Strawweight Kickboxing World Title at ONE Fight Night 40 on Friday, February 13, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. The 26-year-old Austrian reigning ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion hunts for two-sport glory after her spectacular rise through 2025.

The Salzburg native returned in strawweight kickboxing action at ONE Friday Fights 99 in March. She completely outclassed Italy’s Anna Lia Moretti across nine minutes to secure back-to-back kickboxing victories. Her promotional Muay Thai debut against Vanessa Romanowski came next with immediate dividends.

Hemetsberger put the Polish-Swedish bruiser down with a punishing right kick to the rib cage that ended proceedings at 1:44 of round one. The early knockout improved her record to 3-0 in the promotion and 8-1 overall while earning her a US$100,000 contract to compete on the main roster.

“Winning the contract was really special. It was a dream come true at that time because that was what I came here for. It was unbelievable,” she said. “But I worked hard toward that dream, and I knew it would have been something that I’d have accomplished at some point.”

Stella Hemetsberger claimed gold at ONE Fight Night 35

What came next defined not just Stella Hemetsberger’s year but her entire career. The main event clash against Jackie Buntan for the vacant ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Championship arrived at ONE Fight Night 35 in September during her American primetime debut.

The Filipino-American athlete entered as favorite. But the Austrian’s appetite to hoist Muay Thai’s most coveted prize proved far greater. She weathered Buntan’s early aggression, dropped her twice in the opening round, and refused to wilt under pressure. When the final bell sounded, the RS-Gym and Phuket Fight Club superstar had outworked and outpointed the Boxing Works affiliate to impress all three judges at ringside.

Austria’s first-ever ONE World Champion was born. From ONE Friday Fights competitor to divisional queen in less than six months. The rise validated everything Hemetsberger sacrificed to reach Muay Thai’s pinnacle. Yet despite capturing the sport’s ultimate prize, she sees only room for growth.

The record-breaking megastar now scales toward greater heights. She aims to join an elite list of talent who tasted two-sport ONE World Championship status on the global stage. Making the kickboxing switch back against someone of Buntan’s caliber represents no easy task.

“This is something many fans want to see. And it’ll be another exciting fight again. It excites me as well. I’m still training. I’m still working every day to get better and putting in the work to improve as much as I can,” she said. “Kickboxing is my discipline, and I’m looking forward to returning under these rules. I’m locked in on becoming a two-sport World Champion.

“An ideal 2026 would be just to stay active, have a lot of good fights, put on a lot of good performances, and continuously improve my skills and get better. That’ll be an ideal year, just always striving to get better and be better. I’m very thankful for all the support I’ve received throughout last year.”