Laredo Kickboxing Academy students and head coach Sonny Luque.
Courtesy/Laredo Kickboxing Academy
Laredo Kickboxing Academy owner Sonny Luque has a message for the Laredo community: “We’re here.”
Despite being around since 2009, the LKA – and mixed martial arts as a whole – has flown under the radar in the Gateway City. But that hasn’t been due to a lack of success in the ring or impact on those who train at the gym.
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Luque himself had a heralded MMA career. The Laredo native was ranked among the top five fighters in all of Texas and Mexico and held two championship titles in two different weight classes before earning a spot in the Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He fought for more than two and a half decades, retiring in 2023, but Luque’s MMA journey quickly turned into more than a quest for success.
“My sole purpose was to bring MMA to Laredo. It’s been my whole mission since I started (the LKA),” Luque said. After living in Dallas for a short period in the mid-2000s, Luque moved back to Laredo and saw an opportunity. “I ended up coming back (to Laredo) a lot earlier than I expected, and there was still no MMA gyms here, so I was like, you know what, let’s take a chance.”
Laredo Kickboxing Academy owner and coach Sonny Luque speaks to his MMA students at a training session on May 12, 2026.
Cameron Wilhorn/Laredo Morning Times
The gamble paid off, as the LKA enters its 25th year. Throughout that span, Luque trained numerous Laredoans to fight at the amateur level, with a few reaching the professional ranks, most of it while being a professional fighter himself. And while participating in fights is part of the goal, Luque is looking to grow the sport and give back to something that has given him so much.
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“MMA saved my life,” Luque said. “I was a bad kid, in and out of prison, didn’t have a college degree, couldn’t hold a good job and I didn’t have a father figure … MMA made me transfer that aggression and that anger to something good and make a living out of it.”
“We got a couple of guys that already told me the same thing, that this place saved them,” Luque said. “And I was like, man, that’s what I wanted to hear. That’s the reason I’m here.”
It’s for that reason that LKA welcomes newcomers with open arms. Whether a person’s goal is to fight competitively, find an outlet for aggression or get in shape, Luque will hold the door open. Two of the fighters Luque currently has on LKA’s fight team, Ricardo Gutierrez and Gibran Lizcano, began practicing MMA casually.
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Lizcano discovered MMA during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, was one of the few professional sports leagues operating. After watching a few fights, he purchased a boxing bag. And once quarantine restrictions were lifted, Lizcano found the LKA.
“I showed up and we just practiced. Since then, I’ve been hooked,” Lizcano said. “Competing was never really the goal … I just showed up every day and Coach (Luque) said I was getting better and he saw that I had potential. That’s when I started sparring with him, and next thing you know I’m on the fight team, because, like coach says, hard work pays off.”
Lizcano is preparing for his second amateur fight, which is scheduled for June 13 in San Antonio. He narrowly lost his debut in April by decision. But before he ever entered the ring for a bout, Lizcano was hooked by the energy and excitement of a competitive fight while working in the corner of an LKA teammate, Ricky Gutierrez.
“As we were walking out with him,” Lizcano recalled. “I just felt the energy and I was like, ‘I wonder how that would feel if I were walking out.'”
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Once it was Lizcano’s turn to walk out, he wasn’t disappointed.
“It’s just electric, man,” Lizcano said. “As soon as the fight’s on, you hear the crowd and the energy just comes into you. It’s a different feeling.”
The rush of an official match is a feeling shared by Gutierrez, who’s the most experienced fighter on LKA’s fight team.
“Every time I make that walk out, I feel like I’m someone,” Gutierrez said. “The whole team is watching me, waiting for me to perform. My family, my wife and my daughter, everyone’s watching me … I just feel honored to be fighting and representing my team.”
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Laredo Kickboxing Academy’s Ricardo Gutierrez prepares for a fight.
Courtesy/Laredo Kickboxing Academy
Like Lizcano, Gutierrez’s MMA journey didn’t begin with the expectation of participating in sanctioned fights. After forgoing the rest of high school following his sophomore year, Gutierrez struggled to stay active and get out of the house. That left him feeling incomplete. With an interest in MMA spurred by UFC fighter Conor McGregor, Gutierrez decided to give MMA a try himself.
So, he made his way to the LKA and sat watching the organization’s hour-long MMA class, paying close attention to what Luque was teaching and what the students were doing on the mat. Shortly after, Gutierrez made his way onto the mat himself.
“I was always a chubby kid. I was never fit, I never ran the fastest, so my first goal was, ‘I want to have abs,'” Gutierrez said. “Around the third year, it was like, ‘Okay, I want to pursue this. I want to fight in the amateurs.'”
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The years of preparation leading up to Lizcano and Gutierrez’s first amateur fights did not just result in improved technique and skill. They also helped them develop traits that would benefit them outside the gym.
“Hard work opens doors and not giving up,” Gutierrez, who didn’t pick up a win until his seventh fight, said of what he’s learned since starting MMA. “I could have easily called it quits, stopped coming (to LKA), shattered the dreams. It was just something in me that kept saying that all the hard work was going to pay off.”
Laredo Kickboxing Academy’s Ricardo Gutierrez celebrates a victory.
Courtesy/Laredo Kickboxing Academy
For Lizcano, his time at the LKA helped bring about greater discipline and consistency.
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These lessons are particularly impactful for the youth. Luque and the LKA host an hour-long kids kickboxing class three days a week. In addition to the classes, the LKA also has a fight team for kids.
“If I got time, I’ll come into the early class and I’ll be here with some of the kids,” Lizcano said. “Just overall telling them, ‘Listen to your mom, because coach will make you do burpees if you don’t.'”
Lizcano continued, “The policy here is, you do MMA to defend yourself, not to bully. That’s the number one rule in this gym. Don’t be a bully, be a friend … That’s what we try to teach the kids here. We want everyone to know that LKA isn’t just about all these mean tough guys that fight. We want the community to know that you can bring your kid here, they’ll be safe and they’ll be taught well.”
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That emphasis on safety extends past the kids class as well. While injuries are unavoidable, Luque has tailored his teachings to the everyday person – people who are looking for a way to stay active or find an outlet rather than pursue a competitive career.
“Laredo is a fighting city,” Luque said. “And we’re here. We’ve been representing Laredo since 2009.”