Marius Žaromskis (born July 30, 1980) is a Lithuanian welterweight mixed martial artist. After fighting the majority of his career for British promotion Cage Rage, he signed with DREAM in 2009 and then, later that year, with Strikeforce. With DREAM, Žaromskis won their 2009 Welterweight Grand Prix and became their first Welterweight Champion and then signed with Strikeforce. Žaromskis is well known for his kicks & kness combinations, good takedown defense, and some unorthodox techniques. He holds notable victories over Hayato Sakurai, Jason High and Kazushi Sakuraba.
| Marius Žaromskis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | July 30, 1980[1] Šiauliai, Lithuania |
| Other names | Raging Demon, The Whitemare,[1] |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] |
| Weight | 169 lb (77 kg; 12 st 1 lb) |
| Division | Welterweight (170 lb) |
| Style | Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Kyokushin, Wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Freestyle |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Fighting out of | London, England |
| Team | MMA Bushido London Shootfighters (2001–2010) American Kickboxing Academy (2010-present) |
| Years active | 2000 - present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 22 |
| Wins | 15 |
| By knockout | 12 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 2 |
| Losses | 6 |
| By knockout | 4 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Unknown | 1 |
| No contests | 1 |
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Žaromskis made his mma debut in 2000, at Knight of the Ring 6 event. He won his 1st fight against Viktoras Kontrimas and lost second fight against Ricardas Jancevicius at that event. Žaromskis returned after 5 years in Essex, England at UKMMAC 13 against Jack Mason and won by technical knockout. His next fight was against Kazys Grigaliunas, Žaromskis won by knockout.
Cage Rage
Having already made his MMA debut in England, with 3-1 mma record, Žaromskis joined Britain's (at the time) most prominent MMA circuit, Cage Rage, in May 2006. His first fight was against Afnan Saheed, after big combination if knees and punches from Žaromskis, referee stopped the fight. After successful Cage Rage debut, Žaromskis fought against Che Mills, the fight was pretty competitive until Mills Cought head kick from Žaromskis, then he landed knee and Žaromskis was knocked out. After that loss, Žaromskis returned against Darius Swierkosz at Cage Rage: Contenders 3 and won by submission (triangle choke). His next opponent was Damien Riccio, Žaromskis knocked him down severaltimes, but Riccio survived. In round 3 Žaromskis won by referee stoppage due cut on Riccio's face. It is one of the most impressive fights in Cage Rage history. After crushing victory over Riccio, Žaromskis fought Ross Mason. Žaromskis highly dominated in first 2 rounds and knocked him out in third round by flying knee. His next opponent was Ross Pointon. Fight looked competitive in first round, but in second round Pointon got big cut on his head and referee stopped that fight and declared Žaromskis as winner. After this series of wins, Žaromskis got chance to fight for Cage Rage British welterweight championship and revenge his previous and only loss in Cage Rage. He fought Che Mills for second time. Žaromskis dominated first round by taking him down two times and holding top positions for all time, but Žaromskis got cut on his right eye during first round and doctors stopped the fight declaring Che Mills as winner. He fought for the company a total of seven times until May 2008 when it was bought by EliteXC who soon fell into bankruptcy, meaning Cage Rage ceased operations. He left the company with Cage Rage record 5-2, and mma record 8-3.
Return to Lithuania
After leaving Cage Rage, Žaromskis returned to fight in Lithuania. He participated in Bushido Lithuania: Hero's 2008 event against Jedrzej Kubski. Kubski desperately tried to take fight to the ground, Žaromskis got on top by using his takedown defense. After landing a lot of punches from top, referee stopped the fight. With mma record 9-3, all wins finished by t/ko or submission, Žaromskis was the most promising lithuanian fighter.
Dream
In April 2009, Žaromskis was invited to participate at Dream Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 tournament, he went underdog against almost all other participants. At Dream 8 he fought against Seichi Ikemoto in Quarter-final. Žaromskis out-striked him for almost all time, earning unanamious decision victory. In the semi-final Žaromskis faced Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, who had just come off a knockout victory over WAMMA Lightweight Champion Shinya Aoki in the previous round of the tournament. A heavy underdog in the fight, Žaromskis looked comfortable exchanging with the seasoned veteran. The two exchanged relatively evenly on the feet, both showing good combinations with their straight jabs and hooks, whilst Sakurai favoured leg kicks and Žaromskis chose to use high kicks while working the body with his feet. Sakurai landed one takedown and assumed the half guard position in the middle of the ring, but Žaromskis was swiftly able to rise to his feet. The bout was then temporarily halted for several minutes to clean up a cut on Sakurai's face. When the bout resumed Žaromskis came out with a renewed intensity and after a brief exchange he landed a left high kick that dropped his opponent. Žaromskis followed with punches on the ground, prompting the referee to stop the fight for the TKO victory at 4:03 of the first round. Now in the final, Žaromskis faced Jason High who had defeated Andre Galvao previously that night in the other semi-final bout. Žaromskis again won in spectacular fashion, knocking out his opponent with a head kick at 2:22 of the first round crowning him the 2009 Welterweight Grand Prix Champion and inaugural Dream Welterweight Champion.
At Dream 12, the event which marked the first time DREAM used a hexagonal cage for instead of a ring, Žaromskis met Korean Myeon Ho Bae in a non-title matchup. Coming out from the opening bell aggressively, Žaromskis was caught by a right hand which had him back off for a few seconds, until connecting a flush left high kick to the head of his opponent at 0:19 of the first round to knockout his opponent. It marked his third consecutive win via KO (and head kick) in just the first round.
Zaromskis successfully defended his DREAM Welterweight championship against Kazushi Sakuraba at Dynamite!! 2010 on December 31, 2010.[3] The fight was stopped early into the first round by doctors when it appears Zaromskis' strikes had partially torn Sakuraba's ear from his head. Zaromskis looked more technical than Sakuraba in that fight.
Zaromskis was set to fight at Dream.17 in a rematch with Hayato Sakurai, in a non title fight, but an unspecified leg injury forced Sakurai out of the bout. Eiji Ishikawa agreed to replace Sakurai. Ishikawa had won last 7 of 9 his fights before fight against Zaromskis. Ishikawa was out-striked for almost all time. Zaromskis almost finished him several times, but Ishikawa was able to survive until decision. Zaromskis won by unanimious decision.
Strikeforce
It was announced on October 31 that Žaromskis had signed a multi fight contract with North American promotion Strikeforce. He will still fight for DREAM as well due to the organizations' alliance.[4]
Žaromskis had 5 wins in a row and last 3 by a head kick. For this, he earned to fight against Nick Diaz for the inaugural Strikeforce Welterweight Title at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30, 2010.[5] After rocking Diaz earlier Zaromskis ran into a right straight at 4:38 of round 1 to lose the vacant Strikeforce Welterweight title.
Then Žaromskis fought Evangelista Santos at Strikeforce L.A. Cyborg looked bigger than Zaromskis. Zaromskis lost by TKO at 2:38 in the 1st round.
After this, Zaromskis faced Waachim Spiritwolf at Strikeforce Challengers: Wilcox vs. Ribeiro. Zaromskis started aggressive by attempting flying knee, as a result he accidentally poked Spiritwolf's eye and he was unable to continue resulting a NC.
Mixed martial arts record
| 22 matches | 15 wins | 6 losses |
| By knockout | 11 | 4 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| By decision | 2 | 1 |
| Unknown | 1 | 1 |
| No contests | 1 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 15–6 (1) | Eiji Ishikawa | Decision (unanimous) | Dream: Japan GP Final | July 16, 2011 | 2 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | Catchweight (175 lb) bout |
| Loss | 14–6 (1) | Jordan Mein | Decision (unanimous) | Score Fighting Series | June 10, 2011 | 3 | 5:00 | Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | |
| Win | 14–5 (1) | Kazushi Sakuraba | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Dynamite!! 2010 | December 31, 2010 | 1 | 2:16 | Saitama, Japan | Defended Dream Welterweight Championship |
| NC | 13–5 (1) | Waachiim Spiritwolf | No contest (spiritwolf poked in the eye) | Strikeforce Challengers: Wilcox vs. Ribeiro | November 19, 2010 | 1 | 0:06 | Jackson, Mississippi, United States | Accidental eye poke by Žaromskis |
| Loss | 13–5 | Evangelista Santos | TKO (punches) | Strikeforce: Los Angeles | June 16, 2010 | 1 | 2:38 | Los Angeles, California, United States | |
| Loss | 13–4 | Nick Diaz | TKO (punches) | Strikeforce: Miami | January 30, 2010 | 1 | 4:38 | Sunrise, Florida, United States | For vacant Strikeforce Welterweight Title |
| Win | 13–3 | Ho Bae Myeong | KO (head kick) | Dream 12 | October 25, 2009 | 1 | 0:19 | Osaka, Japan | Non title fight |
| Win | 12–3 | Jason High | KO (head kick) | Dream 10 | July 20, 2009 | 1 | 2:22 | Saitama, Japan | Won Dream Welterweight GP, Became First Dream Welterweight Champion |
| Win | 11–3 | Hayato Sakurai | TKO (head kick and punches) | Dream 10 | July 20, 2009 | 1 | 4:03 | Saitama, Japan | Semi-final |
| Win | 10–3 | Seichi Ikemoto | Decision (unanimous) | Dream 8 | April 5, 2009 | 2 | 5:00 | Nagoya, Japan | Quarter-final |
| Win | 9–3 | Jedrzej Kubski | TKO (punches) | Bushido Lithuania: Hero's 2008 | November 8, 2008 | 1 | 0:50 | Vilnius, Lithuania | |
| Loss | 8–3 | Che Mills | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Cage Rage 26 | May 10, 2008 | 1 | 5:00 | London, England | For Cage Rage British Welterweight Championship |
| Win | 8–2 | Ross Pointon | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Cage Rage 24 | December 1, 2007 | 2 | 3:39 | London, England | |
| Win | 7–2 | Ross Mason | KO (flying knee) | Cage Rage 22 | July 14, 2007 | 3 | 2:03 | England | |
| Win | 6–2 | Damien Riccio | TKO (cut) | Cage Rage 20 | February 10, 2007 | 3 | 4:30 | London, England | |
| Win | 5–2 | Darius Swierkosz | Submission (triangle choke) | Cage Rage: Contenders 3 | November 12, 2006 | 2 | N/A | London, England | |
| Loss | 4–2 | Che Mills | KO (knee) | Cage Rage: Contenders 2 | August 20, 2006 | 1 | 4:49 | South London, England | |
| Win | 4–1 | Afnan Saheed | TKO (punches) | Cage Rage: Contenders | May 28, 2006 | 1 | 1:21 | London, England | |
| Win | 3–1 | Kazys Grigaliunas | KO (punches) | ZT: Fight Night | February 19, 2006 | 1 | 1:57 | London, England | |
| Win | 2–1 | Jack Mason | TKO (cut) | UKMMAC 13: Warriors Return | November 27, 2005 | 1 | 3:18 | Essex, England | |
| Loss | 1–1 | Ricardas Jancevicius | N/A | Knight of the Ring 6 | February 4, 2000 | N/A | N/A | Šiauliai, Lithuania | |
| Win | 1–0 | Viktoras Kontrimas | N/A | Knight of the Ring 6 | February 4, 2000 | N/A | N/A | Šiauliai, Lithuania |
See also
References
- ^ a b Sherdog.com. "Fight Finder - Marius "The Whitemare" Žaromskis's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ "Fighters Profile". K-1.co.jp. 1980-07-30. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ Steven Marrocco. "Mariusz Zaromskis to face Kazushi Sakuraba at "Dynamite!! 2010"". MMAjunkie.
- ^ Brian Knapp. "Strikeforce Signs Zaromskis". Sherdog.
- ^ "DIAZ VS. ZAROMSKIS FOR STRIKEFORCE 170-LBS BELT". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2009-12-19.