Thailand Champ Wins Double Gold at 2025 WKA
USA Nationals
Coming out of Coastal Muay Thai, a Muay Thai kickboxing gym in Roanoke, Virginia, Santino just 13 years old clinched double gold at the 2025 WKA USA National Tournament, winning championships in both Kickboxing and Muay Thai. With these victories, he’s now ranked #1 in the USA in his division.
Road to Gold
Santino’s success at WKA didn’t happen overnight. In preparation for the tournament, we took part of our team and spent two months training and fighting in Thailand, the birthplace of Muay Thai. During that time, Santino competed in two fights—and won both in Bangkok, Thailand.
At Coastal Muay Thai, the Muay Thai and kickboxing gym in Roanoke, Virginia, we use a three-pronged approach to develop fighters:
Fundamentals
Collaboration
Trusted Leadership
These core values guide everything we do and have helped Santino grow into the champion he is today. We emphasize strong fundamentals, like ring control, trapping, defensive movement, and strategic countering teaching fighters to control the pace using smart positioning—skills Santino is mastering through focused training.
After round one, we noticed the opponent’s kicks weren’t compromising Santino’s balance, so we focused on
countering those kicks with the rear cross—a strategy we drill often when conditions like this come up. Santino executed it cleanly and took control of the fight to secure the win.
Santino is true representation of the values we stand for at Coastal Muay Thai and his journey is a reminder of what's possible when those core principles guide the path forward.
More moments
“I've been coaching Santino for 2.5 years now, and this is most confident I've ever seen him. He’s got a calm, relaxed presence, but when it’s time to fight—he shows up and delivers. What he did at WKA, and in Thailand is just the beginning.”
