User:Olekkks/Marcin Najman

Marcin Krzysztof Najman (born March 13, 1979 in Częstochowa) – Polish fighter, MMA (freak show fight) and kick boxer, boxing promoter, and media personality.

Two times Polish junior vice-champion in kick-boxing (1998, 1999). In 2001 he made his debut in professional boxing. He suffered defeats in his first three fights, then won 12 fights in a row, with only one opponent having a positive win-loss record. In 2008 he lost by technical knockout in the second round to Andrzej Wawrzyk for the international Polish heavyweight championship. In 2016 he won the title of European champion of WKU federation in kickboxing (K-1 formula).

Early life
Born March 13, 1979 in Częstochowa. He has a sister Ewa. In childhood he took part in school artistic performances. At the age of nine he started training karate. In the second grade of high school he started kick-boxing trainings. In 1998 and 1999 he was vice-champion of Poland in junior kick-boxing in light contact formula. He fought twelve fights in total and won eight of them.

In 1998 he passed his matriculation exam at the Secondary Music School in Częstochowa (he played double bass). He completed pedagogy (musical education) at the Higher School of Pedagogy in Częstochowa.

Early Career
From a young age he was passionate about boxing, as he considered this discipline to be "the essence of male competition". He started training as a boxer later, due to the lack of proper training conditions. In 1999 he won the memorial tournament of Wincenty Szyiński, and in 2001 he became the vice-champion of Małopolska. As an amateur, he fought only five fights, of which he won four.

Professional boxing and kick-boxing
He made his professional boxing debut on April 30, 2001, losing by a knockout to Peter Simko, who had a record of 0-11. In his next two fights he also lost in front of time to Dawid Kostecki, who was starting his professional career, and Ukrainian Artem Chernov. Then he met Jerzy Kulej, who took interest in the young boxer. With his help he began to achieve his first professional successes.

On March 27, 2004 in Radom he defeated Tomasz Gorski, winning for the first time in the professional ring. The encounter was contracted for four rounds. However, his opponent lasted only two, after which he submitted. Then, the boxer defeated Robert Gacek twice, who had only fought one fight before. It should be noted, based on data from the BoxRec professional boxers registry, that Tomasz Górski and Robert Gacek are the only Polish boxers beaten by Najman, and they did not win in any fight in their boxing careers. In his next two fights he won against Slovakian Milan Bečák with one win and 12 losses and American Doug Phillips. Phillips was the only fighter beaten by Najman, who had a positive record in professional boxing. On March 25, 2006, he got a rematch with Peter Simka for a defeat less than five years ago, who had a balance of 2-30. He continued his winning streak against fighters from Slovakia and Belarus (Piotr Sapun, 10-11, Imrich Borek, 2-27 and Alfred Pollák, 0-8). Afterwards, he was again victorious over Sapuna and Borek and on February 9, 2008, he knocked out Štefan Cirok in the second round.

In 2004-2008 he won 12 fights in a row, which resulted in his appearance in the fight against Andrzej Wawrzyk for the Polish Professional Heavyweight Championship. On April 19, 2008 in Spodek in Katowice he was knocked out by Wawrzyk in the second round of the fight. Based on data from the BoxRec internet portal, before Najman got the chance to fight for the international championship of Poland, he fought fighters with an overall record of 39-175. The gala gained publicity among others thanks to Najman's participation in the Big Brother VIP program. In October 2010 he received a promoter's license from PZB (Polish Professional Boxing Association). Together with Lukasz Glowacki he created a promoter group NG Promotions, organizing a series of events under the name "Fight Night". On 29th October 2010 he organized his first professional boxing gala in Skarżysko-Kamienna, in which he himself took part.

On November 5th, 2011 at MMA Attack 1 on Torwar Stadium in Warsaw he fought Przemyslaw Saleta in K-1 rules bout (rematch of their 2010 MMA fight), which he lost in the first round due to leg injury. The injury also prevented him from fighting Wojciech Bartnik, which was supposed to take place on November 19th in Kalisz.

In 2013, after a four-and-a-half-year hiatus, he returned to boxing fights, and his opponent was Martin Pacas. Najman won by technical knockout in the second round. He put his opponent down three times before the fight was stopped. On November 30, 2013 at boxing gala Fight Night 7 - "Czestochowa defense" in Czestochowa, Najman defeated Aleks Serbic (0-1) from Bosnia and Herzegovina by TKO in the third round. It was the last fight Najman won in boxing, where out of 15 wins, 3 opponents debuted with Najman, 11 fighters at the time of the clash had a negative balance of fights (more losses than wins) and one opponent had more wins than losses.

In 2013, after a four-and-a-half-year break, he returned to fighting. On October 25, 2014 he organized Andrzej Gołota's farewell fight in Częstochowa. On December 27 he returned to MMA fighting. In the fight with Michal Dobias he won by guillotine choke in 46th second.

In 2015, he founded the promoter group NW Promotion. Robert Walczak became his new partner.

On August 28, 2016 in Częstochowa at the gala Boxing Night 12 He won the European Championship of the WKU organization in K1 after a fight with Jahmai Satisch. After a quick exchange of punches, Satisch lost consciousness in the 36th second of the fight, which ended the duel. On May 25, 2018, he appeared in an organized National Boxing Gala held at the National Stadium. After the end of the fourth round in a confrontation with Latvian fighter Rihards Bigis, he reported a hand injury to the referee, who immediately stopped the fight. On April 27, 2019 in Starachowice he entered a rematch fight with Bigis and again lost, reporting an injury - this time in the first round, after which he announced the end of his career and his desire to fight a farewell fight under K-1 rules.

On November 21, 2020 at FAME 8, he was defeated by Kasius Zycinski, a.k.a. "Don Kasjo", after being disqualified after intentionally bringing his opponent to the ground and kicking him. On November 21, 2020 at FAME 8, he was defeated by Kasjusz Zycinski, a.k.a. "Don Kasjo", after being disqualified after intentionally bringing his opponent to the ground and kicking him. He announced his retirement less than a month before the fight. After the fight his trainer physically attacked Kasyus, twisting his leg, which led to an injury to Najman's rival. On November 23rd FAME MMA federation issued a statement about the incident, informing of Najman's lifetime ban from the federation and depriving him of his remuneration for the fight, part of which will be donated to Zyciński, while the rest will go to the Polish MMA Federation. It was also announced that Najman's trainer Damian Herczyk will submit a criminal complaint to the prosecution. After the show the main referee of the federation - Piotr Jarosz on his Instagram profile initiated a campaign #DismissNajman, in which he informed that for his behavior he disappears from his profile on Instagram, at the same time announcing that he will never again judge fights involving Najman.

KSW
In 2009 he signed a MMA contract with KSW. However, due to the injury his debut at KSW XI (May 12th 2009 against Jahmai Satisch) was cancelled. His debut took place on December 11th, 2009 at KSW 12 against Mariusz Pudzianowski, with whom he lost in the 43rd second. Najman's trainer before KSW XII was Robert Kostecki.

In 2010 in his second MMA appearance at KSW 14: Judgment Day Najman lost to Przemyslaw Saleta via choke. For a long time he was the prevailing party, attacking his rival for several minutes. Eventually his opponent found himself in top position and ended the fight with leverage. Jerzy Kulej, among others, commented on the fight, criticizing the ring referee's work, which had an impact on the outcome of the fight. On April 27, 2012 at MMA Attack 2 in Katowice he lost to Lithuanian bodybuilder Robert Burneika, making his MMA debut. Najman submitted at the beginning of the second round. After the defeat "El Testosteron" announced that it was his last fight in the career.

A fight with strongman Tyberiusz Kowalczyk was planned for December 8 in London, but on October 27 Najman resigned from the duel due to "failure to meet the arrangements, organizers of this fight".

FFF
On June 8, 2019, at FFF 1, an MMA gala featuring Polish celebrities, he was defeated in the fight of the evening by Pawel "Trybson" Trybala by TKO in the first round after 41 seconds

Fame MMA
His first fight in FAME MMA took place on October 26th during the "Fame MMA 5" show in Ergo Arena. In the fight of the evening he knocked out Piotr Witczak, known as "Bonus BGC" in the first round.

On March 28, 2020 at "FAME MMA 6" he was knocked out in the first round by bodybuilder Piotr "Beast" Piechowiak.

On September 5, 2020 at "FAME 7" he won a duel in the first round with Dariusz "Daro Lw" Kazmierczuk, by taping his rival to the mat after punches.

MMA-VIP
On February 13, 2021 at the MMA-VIP gala, of which he is the founder, he faced Szymon "Taxi Złota" Września. Najman lost that fight by TKO in the second round and announced that it was his farewell fight in MMA, after which he will switch to shooting.

On September 11, 2021, during a press conference announcing the "MMA-VIP 3: Galaxy of Curiosities" gala, he announced another return to MMA. His next opponent in the evening fight of this gala, which took place on October 29, 2021, was Ryszard "Szczena" Dąbrowski, the hero of the TV show Chłopaki do wzięcia. After 17 seconds he won the duel by TKO, dealing blows on the ground after knocking down his opponent.

On March 5, 2022 at "MMA-VIP 4: Empire of the Condemned" he fought a former gangster, Miroslaw "Misiek from Nadarzyn" Dabrowski. In the first round after a brief exchange of punches Misiek from Nadarzyn unexpectedly took down El Testosteron and held him down for the entire round. In the second round the more experienced Najman was the winner, winning by TKO after the referee quickly and controversially stopped the fight, when he hit his opponent with a powerful punch that left him wobbly.

Non-sporting activities
From August 30 to November 1, 2011 he was a columnist for the online version of "Super Express". His articles were called "Najman knows best".

On September 8, 2011 he began co-presenting the program Fun raport on the TV channel Orange Sport, first with Paweł Zarzeczny and then with Jacek Lenartowicz. In 2020 he started to host the program Mocne uderzenie on the channel W ringu z Najmanem on YouTube.

In June 2014, a book written by Najman, Jerzy Kulej. My Master, describing the boxer's friendship with Jerzy Kulej.

He was a participant in the VIP part of the fifth edition of the TV4 reality show Big Brother (2008) and the third edition of the Polsat entertainment program Dancing with the Stars. Dancing with the Stars (2015). On September 19, 2020, an episode of the quiz show Jaka to melodia? was broadcast on TVP1, in which he won, defeating Reni Jusis and Mietek Szczesniak.

In October 2018, he ran unsuccessfully in the local elections for the Silesian Voivodeship Assembly from the Kukiz'15 committee list.

In 2020 he appeared in the news program We're Going, hosted by Michał Rachoń on the TVP Info channel. He commented there, among other things, on the US presidential election, the activities of the All-Poland Women's Strike and the negotiations of the EU budget.

Charity activities
Every year since 2001 he organizes in Czêstochowa a charity soccer match between the teams of boxers and speedway riders, from which the income is donated to the most needy.

In 2010 he resigned from his MMA fight with Przemyslaw Saleta for the benefit of an 11-year-old boy from Czestochowa suffering from cancer.

On October 21, 2017 during the Boxing Night gala in Zyrardow he fought a charity fight with the vice-president of the city Lucjan Chrzanowski.

In 2021 at an auction organized by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Najman's jacket was auctioned off - Krzysztof Stanowski bought it for 20 100 PLN.

Private life
On 22 June 2013 at Jasna Góra he married Julita Januszko. The ceremony was combined with the baptism of their daughter, Veronica.

Media image and perception
He became one of the most famous Polish athletes, mainly thanks to his participation in the reality show Big Brother V. He also gained media attention for his two overtime losses in mixed martial arts fights at KSW.His first opponent was strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski, the second was former boxer and kickboxer Przemyslaw Saleta. In December 2009, after his fight with Pudzianowski, one of the newspapers compared MMA to kamasutra in male version. Paweł Zarzeczny, in his column for Polska The Times, describing this duel and martial arts competition, used the expression "sadism and little hick town". The event attracted nearly 6 million viewers, which was the second most-watched sporting event broadcast by Polsat TV in 2009.

At the beginning of 2010, a group of 16 Polish boxers issued an open letter about Marcin Najman: The letter was signed by Polish boxers, such as Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, Albert Sosnowski, Przemyslaw Saleta, Dawid Kostecki, Maciej Zegan, Mariusz Wach, Tomasz Hutkowski and Andrzej Wawrzyk.

Since 2010 Najman's dispute with Przemysław Saleta, who used to be his friend, was widely commented in the media. The immediate cause was the publication in a national newspaper of a photo of Najman with Saleta's then-wife. From that moment the conflict started to escalate. This situation resulted in two fights between the two fighters in the MMA and K1 formula. Their fights combined elements of sport and show business.

After his fight with Burneika in 2012 an avalanche of negative comments directed at Najman appeared on the internet. He also aroused the resentment of internet users by making pejorative comments about some fans, especially those who supported the Lithuanian fighter.

In 2020 a conflict between Najman and journalist Krzysztof Stanowski aroused interest on the Internet. The two exchanged biting remarks on social media, and in the program Hejt Park on Sports Channel a brawl took place between them, during which Najman poured water on Stanowski. On December 21, 2020 Najman appeared in front of Rakow club building in Częstochowa with an intention of fighting Stanowski, to which he challenged him on Twitter, but the journalist did not show up, and the announcement of his arrival turned out to be a bluff. After this event, Najman became the hero of many internet memes. On 31 January 2021, Najman and Stanowski ended their conflict by appearing together at the 29th Final of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.

Conflicts with the law and controversies
On May 25, 2005, he was sentenced for financial fraud to two years' imprisonment, suspended for five years, and a fine of PLN 4,800. Due to a problem with paying the fine, he asked for a change to community service and eventually paid the fine in installments. In May 2007, he was legally convicted of making criminal threats.On 15 December 2015, the Oświęcim District Court ordered him to pay 5 thousand zlotys (plus 747 zlotys of legal costs) to Ryszard Skórki, who helped him financially as a sponsor of boxing galas. On December 28, 2015, the District Court in Warsaw ordered Najman to pay 20 thousand zlotys (plus interest) to journalist Marta Kossecka-Rawicz, 5 thousand zlotys (plus interest) to the Children's Fantasia Foundation, 1985 zlotys to Przemyslaw Saleta, and another 5385 zlotys in legal costs and attorney's fees. All this for insults against Saleta and suggesting that he had an affair with a journalist, uttered during a visit to the "AS Interview" program aired on Sportklub TV in 2012. In September 2021, he was fined for driving without authorization to a one-year ban from driving any vehicle. The proceedings in this case were conditionally discontinued for three years.

In January 2022 during a conference he introduced Andrzej Zielinski a.k.a. Nightingale as the new head of his MMA-VIP federation, publicly announcing the beginning of his cooperation with the former gangster. The decision caused controversy in the media and, consequently, doubts among the sponsors as to the further financing of the federation's activity. As a result, the city of Kielce withdrew from the organization of the MMA-VIP 4 gala, which was to take place in this city on February 25, 2022. Eventually Najman announced that the controversial gala will take place on March 5, 2022 in Wieluń. However, after a wave of public criticism, the gala in Wieluń was cancelled, and Marcin Najman announced that he would organize it in a private property. In February 2022, he invited Krystyna Pawłowicz to participate in the MMA-VIP gala.

In mass culture
In 2009 a song about Najman was recorded by Kalisz rapper Gorzki. In 2011, there was another song about the fistfighter, Ballada Najmana, created by CeZik in his project KlejNuty, which has about 4.5 million views on YouTube (as of October 2021).

Kick-boxing:

 * 1998: Vice-champion of Polish junior kick-boxing, Light contact (amateur kick-boxing balance 8-4) 1999: Vice-champion of Polish junior kick-boxing, Light contact (amateur kick-boxing balance 8-4) 2016: WKU European heavyweight champion, K-1 formula

Boxing:

 * 1999: victory in the tournament named after Wincenty Szyiński 2001: vice-champion of Małopolska in boxing (amateur boxing balance 4-1)

Prizes and awards

 * 2004: prize-winner of the poll for the most popular sportsman in the Częstochowa district 2005: winner of plebiscite for the most popular sportsman in Częstochowa district 2006: winner of the poll for the most popular sportsman in the Częstochowa district

Boxing
Legend: TKO - technical knockout, KO - knockout, UD - unanimous decision, SD - unanimous decision, MD - majority decision, PTS - fight ended on points, RTD - judges' technical decision, DQ - disqualification