Bosque Farms resident Lindenmuth chases UFC dreams

A Bosque Farms resident is the top fighter in the region in her weight class.

Kat Lindenmuth, a 32-year-old mother of three, beat Janelle Vigil in the 114 pound division to claim the title on Saturday, June 26, in Albuquerque at the Colorado/New Mexico regional Golden Gloves tournament.

Lindenmuth has been at Rosales’s Karate and Kickboxing in Los Lunas since she was 15, but always on the karate side before 2020.

Lindenmuth’s fight for the regional crown was also the first official bout she was able to find after beginning to train in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I had done karate in the past but I came back to the gym and got into boxing in 2020,” Lindenmuth said.

“I lost my husband in 2019 and I was looking for somewhere to get myself grounded again.”

Vigil, who Lindenmuth defeated for the regional title, had previously competed at nationals.

“I was really nervous going into it,” Lindenmuth said. “I don’t believe in giving half of your energy to something, I’m always all in.

“I was worried at first, I knew I had trained well  and I trusted that my coach wouldn’t put me in there if he didn’t believe in me. I felt like I had a really terrible warmup.

“Once we started though, I brought a lot of energy to the fight. I want to be intense in the ring and I think I got into her head a little bit.”

At 32, Lindenmuth is getting a later start on her boxing career than is typical, particularly for a fighter looking to pivot to mixed martial arts but another New Mexico fighter blazed the trail she hopes to follow.

“I’m trying to take the Holly (Holm) route,” Lindenmuth said.

“She got started in MMA when she was 30 and look what she went on to do. That’s my goal.”

Lindenmuth trains for three to four hours a day, six days a week in order to stay ready whenever a fight may pop up in addition to juggling her duties as a mother to three boys under the age of 13.

“I keep very busy,” she said with a laugh. “We always have something going on.”

Lindenmuth competed at Golden Gloves nationals in early August, but lost her first bout at 112 pounds to Jasmine Hampton out of Detroit.