Pentagon MMA student and Fight Team member Katrina Combs has a lot to celebrate.
In June, she won her second title belt by first-round TKO at Cagezilla 46 in Ashburn, cementing her standing as one of the region’s premier female amateur Muay Thai fighters.
It has been a little bit more than a year since joining the fight team at Pentagon MMA, and she has her sights set on a new goal – going pro as a Muay Thai fighter.
“I am truly grateful for my new fight family,” she says. “My transition to Pentagon MMA has been a major blessing in my life. I look forward to fighting at 145 pounds – maybe even lower than that – under the instruction of Kru Vivek and Kru Chon. My ultimate goal is to go pro, and I know I’m in the best place to get me there!”
Back in 2010, Katrina Combs weighed 235 pounds and was fed up. She wanted to get her body back in shape, but was tired of doing the same old workouts.
“I was extremely overweight,” she recalls, looking back. “I needed something other than going to a traditional gym by myself to lose the weight and get healthy.” She had a longtime love of boxing and martial arts, and when she determined she needed “something different” to help her lose weight, she gave it a try.
Combs started training at Premier Fight Center in Woodbridge under Master Leo Dalla in 2010. She trained, lost about 40 lbs. and was feeling great. Every journey has its setbacks, though, and Combs’s was no different.
“I suffered a knee injury – a torn meniscus – in early 2011 while sparring. I had to have surgery to repair my knee in May 2011,” she recalls. Combs finally had her first fight in 2012 at the Hampton Sports Festival in southern Virginia.
“Unfortunately I lost by decision,” she said.
After that, Combs fought in a few Muay Thai sparring showcases, but then suffered another setback.
“My coach left due to military obligations,” she says. “From that point, things in my life were changing, and I had lost a key motivator in my Muay Thai journey.” She continued to train and fight, but ultimately, it was Master Dalla who supported Combs in her fresh start and led her to Pentagon MMA.
Combs says the warm welcome she received from the Pentagon MMA fight team, along with how Pentagon MMA’s tight, close-knit team reminded her of her first gym, made her feel right at home.
She got right back to work.
“Coming in to Pentagon MMA, I was 185 pounds. All I needed was the consistency in training, the push, and the atmosphere that you only find amongst folks who are truly dedicated to getting in the ring for that next fight,” she says. “That drive is what pushes you to get to the gym despite stress, fatigue, pain.”
Combs says the team at Pentagon MMA gave her exactly the support and training she needed to reach her ultimate goal.
“I have always struggled with my weight, particularly in highly stressful times; so, while motivated to fight, I need that push and that atmosphere to rein in my focus on my fight goals,” she explains.
“With that said, by the grace of God, through hard work and the support of my Pentagon MMA fight team and coaches, my parents, my strength and conditioning coach out of Maryland, and many others, I finally reached my goal of fighting under 150 pounds at TCB14!”
TCB14 (Thai Championship Boxing) is the D.C. Metro area’s longest-running Muay Thai championship event. This year it took place on April 29 in Ashburn, Virginia.
“I won my first title belt!” Combs recalls proudly. “I had an awesome cut, weighing in at 148 pounds with my sweatpants on – that was 1 pound under the scheduled fight weight!”
On top of all of her recent accomplishments, Combs says her new Pentagon MMA body feels great.
“I have gotten leaner, yet stronger, and I know it will only get better!” she says.
