- Marius Žaromskis
-
This article is about the mixed martial artist. For the British hardcore band, see Whitemare.
Marius Žaromskis 
Born July 30, 1980 [1]
Šiauliai, LithuaniaOther names Raging Demon, The Whitemare,[1] Nationality Lithuanian Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] Weight 169 lb (76.7 kg; 12.1 st) 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 11 By submission 1 By decision 2 Unknown 1 Losses 6 By knockout 4 By decision 1 Unknown 1 No contests 1 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 combinations, excellent takedown defense, and unorthodox techniques. He holds notable victories over Hayato Sakurai, Jason High and Kazushi Sakuraba.
Contents
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Žaromskis made his MMA debut in 2000, at the Knight of the Ring 6 event. He won his first fight against Viktoras Kontrimas and lost his 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.
Cage Rage
With a 3-1 MMA record, Žaromskis joined the Cage Rage organization in May 2006. His first fight was against Afnan Saheed. After a big combination of knees and punches from Žaromskis, the referee stopped the fight. After his successful Cage Rage debut, Žaromskis fought against Che Mills, and the fight was pretty competitive until Mills caught Žaromskis with a head kick and after landed a knee that knocked Žaromskis out. After that loss, Žaromskis returned against Darius Swierkosz at Cage Rage: Contenders 3 and won by submission in the first round. His next opponent was Damien Riccio, and Žaromskis knocked him down several times, but Riccio survived. In round 3 Žaromskis won by TKO due to a cut on Riccio's face. It is one of the most impressive fights in Cage Rage history. After his crushing victory over Riccio, Žaromskis fought Ross Mason. Žaromskis completely dominated Mason in the first two rounds and knocked him out in the third round with a flying knee. His next opponent was Ross Pointon. The fight looked competitive in the first round, but in the second round Pointon got a big cut on his head and the referee stopped the fight and declared Žaromskis the winner. After this series of wins, Žaromskis got a chance to fight for the Cage Rage British welterweight championship and avenge his only loss in Cage Rage fighting against Che Mills for a second time. Žaromskis dominated the first round by taking him down two times and holding top positions for most of the round, but developed a cut on his right eye during the first round and doctors stopped the fight declaring Che Mills the 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 had compiled a Cage Rage record of 5-2.
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 the fight to the ground, and Žaromskis got on top by using his takedown defense. After landing multiple unanswered punches from the top, the referee stopped the fight. With an MMA record of 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. At Dream 8 he fought against Seichi Ikemoto in the quarter-finals. Žaromskis out-struck him all 3 rounds, earning a unanimous decision victory. In the semi-finals Žaromskis faced Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, who had just come off a KO 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 favored 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 the 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 fight. Coming out from the opening bell aggressively, Žaromskis was caught by a right hand which backed him up 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 in just the first round.
Žaromskis 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 Žaromskis' strikes had partially torn Sakuraba's ear from his head.
Žaromskis 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 and he was replaced by Eiji Ishikawa. Ishikawa had won last 7 of 9 his fights before fight against Žaromskis. Ishikawa was out-struck for almost all three rounds and was almost finished several times, but he was able to survive, eventually losing a unanimous 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 head kick KO. For this, he earned a fight against Nick Diaz for the inaugural Strikeforce Welterweight Title at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30, 2010.[5] After rocking Diaz earlier, Žaromskis ran into a right straight and lost by TKO at 4:38 of round 1.
Žaromskis next fought Evangelista Santos at Strikeforce: Los Angeles. From the start of the fight, it was obvious that Cyborg had a size advantage over Žaromskis. Žaromskis lost by TKO at 2:38 in the 1st round.
After this, Žaromskis faced Waachiim Spiritwolf at Strikeforce Challengers: Wilcox vs. Ribeiro. Žaromskis started aggressive by attempting a flying knee, but as a result he accidentally poked Spiritwolf's eye and he was unable to continue resulting in a NC.
Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown 22 matches 15 wins 6 losses By knockout 11 4 By submission 1 0 By decision 2 1 Unknown 1 1 No contests 1 Result 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
- List of current mixed martial arts champions
- List of current Strikeforce fighters
References
- ^ a b Sherdog.com. "Fight Finder - Marius "The Whitemare" Žaromskis's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics". Sherdog.com. http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Marius-Zaromskis-15180. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ "Fighters Profile". K-1.co.jp. 1980-07-30. http://www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp/fighter/marius_zaromskis.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
- ^ Steven Marrocco. "Marius Zaromskis to face Kazushi Sakuraba at "Dynamite!! 2010"". MMAjunkie. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21646/mariusz-zaromskis-to-face-kazushi-sakuraba-at-dream-2010.mma.
- ^ Brian Knapp. "Strikeforce Signs Zaromskis". Sherdog. http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/strikeforce-signs-zaromskis-20649.
- ^ "DIAZ VS. ZAROMSKIS FOR STRIKEFORCE 170-LBS BELT". mmamania.com. http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=10299&zoneid=3. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
External links
New championship 1st Dream Welterweight Champion
July 20, 2009-presentCurrent holder Heavyweight VacantLight Heavyweight Middleweight VacantWelterweight 
Marius ŽaromskisLightweight Featherweight 
Hiroyuki TakayaCategories:- 1980 births
- Living people
- Lithuanian kickboxers
- Lithuanian mixed martial artists
- Welterweight mixed martial artists
- Dream champions
- People from Šiauliai
- Lithuanian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
