Alex Eller
WAHOO- Over the last several years, there have been many long nights for Sean Lindgren, of Wahoo, in the gym. While everyone settles into bed to wind down, Lindgren gets another rep in at the gym or works on drills that help his fighting technique.
The countless hours that the manager of Wahoo Martial Arts has put into perfecting his craft has shown in the octagon and has given him the opportunity to go pro as an MMA fighter.
“One of the great things about martial arts is you can do a lot of training solo, and you don’t always have to be with the team,” Lindgren said. “If you’re doing football, basketball, and a lot of these other sports, if the entire team is not all there, then you’re not going to be able to do the type of work to be successful. A lot of martial arts is done through solo drills, working on a heavy bag, doing shadow boxing, lots of running, solo cardio, and strength training. They are all things you can do anytime.”
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After amassing a 5-0 record as an amateur fighter, promoters of MMA gave him the call that they believed his skills were good enough to go pro. Lindgren accepted the offer but wanted to get one more amateur fight in to work on a few more skills as he dropped down from the Middleweight Division to Welterweight.
That final amateur fight was on Aug. 9 at the Ralston Arena against Sean Krebbs, who is a veteran of the MMA game. Lindgren fell back on his training and earned his sixth win of his career by TKO ( technical knockout) in the second round.
“That was his 10th fight, so he was definitely an experienced fighter,” Lindgren said. “I would say he is probably the most skilled fighter I have fought yet. We just executed the game plan and came out on top.”
Looking back at the beginning, Lindgren still finds it hard to believe the success he has had in the sport of MMA. His goal in the beginning was to fight once as an amateur and to say he has done it, but now he will be fighting on the biggest stage as a pro.
“This is not at all what I expected,” Lindgren said. “... When you train in the martial arts for long enough it’s kind of a bucket list thing to do an MMA fight and test your skills. Now I’ve done six of them, so it’s just one step at a time. There was never any time I thought this would be a thing.”
Now as Lindgren makes the jump to the professional level, his goal remains the same — he wants to keep pushing himself to his limits. He is excited for the chance to use his skills against even better fighters.
Lindgren knows just like amateur MMA, there are levels to the pro game. He is ready to put in the work to move up the ladder in a new division.
“As a pro, I kind of just want to see the limits I can push myself to,” Lindgren said. “The pro division has many different levels, just like the amateur division does as well. There are levels to this game and as you move up, people are highly trained, skilled athletes, and martial artists. I look forward to testing my skills at a higher level.”
Lindgren doesn’t have an opponent for his pro debut, yet. The fight will more than likely be through Dynasty Combat Sports which is a group that puts on MMA fights in Nebraska.
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Alex Eller
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