Fighter on the Rise: Muay Thai specialist Lindsey Marino

By TXMMA Staff // Felix Rodriguez // Photo by Paul Anthony Trevino

Well-traveled Austinite enjoying the ride; Sees the sky as the limit in both striking and MMA

AUSTIN, TX, July 2, 2014 –Lindsey Marino is one of those cool people. She’s a free-spirited homebody who enjoys “ghetto” rap and drum n bass music equally.  She’s quirky and she’s sassy and she likes to laugh a lot. She’s also a very promising Muay Thai specialist fighting out of Austin, Texas.

Marino is as vicious inside a ring as she is friendly and likeable outside of it. The Texas-born fighter went 4-1 as an amateur “with a title win through the IKF of West Coast Champion.” After winning her amateur championship Marino turned pro and is currently 2-0.  Marino believes she has a will to win that is bigger than her, which takes over her and helps her circumvent challenging circumstances. Now that she’s begun to make a name for herself finding opponents is becoming a harder proposition. Not bad for someone who stumbled upon her craft almost by accident.

Lindsey Marino was looking for a new workout and found a new lifestyle. She was first introduced to the art of eight limbs by Saekson Janjira in Plano, Texas after reading that Muay Thai was a good workout in a magazine. Saekson was the first step in a long journey that has brought her to Austin, Texas where she currently resides and trains, “I don’t really remember how long I trained [at Saekson’s], but for at least a year. I moved to ATX for a boyfriend at the time. We moved out to the Bay area and I began training under Enn at Fairtex Mountaiview and Jongsanan in San Francisco Fairtex. Ended back in Austin because I am originally from Texas. Currently, I am training under Nick ‘The Ghost’ Gonzalez.”

Marino’s striking training has been wide and diverse. She enjoyed her time training in the west coast because she got to “train with a lot of people who grew up learning Muay Thai, which has led her to have a very clean and “straight from the source” style of striking. Now that she lives in her home state of Texas she is taking advantage of the lessons she learns from Nick Gonzalez. “Training with Nick has been really wonderful. He is a really good motivator and really knows how to bring out the best positive aspects that I possess. We both click really well and he really knows how to instill confidence and self-reliance. When you add that will technique and skill you become something wonderful! He has really improved my boxing skills and footwork immensely,” said Marino.

The quirky Austin resident is on an ascending path, but she is enjoying the ride upwards with no set milestones in mind. She explained, “I don’t have any direct goals set. I mainly focus on what opportunities are presented and I want to do the best that I can when given an opportunity. My main goal is simply to be the best that I can possibly be with the talent I have been given.”

Her next opportunity will take place on September 20th when she fights at the Pechanga Casino against an opponent yet to be announced. Marino plans on making a statement and to continue building a reputation as a fearsome fighter to look out for. When asked for any final thoughts Marino had the following message for TXMMA’s readers, “my main message is to not set limitations on yourself. If you are truly following your essence, then it will lead you to where you will be happiest. Keep watching me, I am destined for big things!”