From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mariusz Pudzianowski
Born	Mariusz Pudzianowski February 7, 1977 (1977-02-07) (age 33) Biała Rawska, Poland
Other names	Pudzian Dominator Super Mariusz(eng.Super Mario) Pyton(eng.Python) Duży Pyton(eng.Big Python)
Residence	Poland
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight	130 kilograms (287 lb)[1]
Division	265+
Style	Karate
Rank	4th Kyu Green belt in Kyokushin
MMA record
Total	1
Wins	1
By knockout	0
By submission	1
By decision	0
Losses	0
Draws	0
No contests	0
Other information
Occupation	Strongman, Mixed Martial Artist
http://www.pudzian.pl (Polish)
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Mariusz Pudzianowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmarjuʂ pudʑaˈnɔfski]) (born on February 7, 1977 in Biała Rawska, Poland) is a former gym instructor turned strongman competitor. He has won more World's Strongest Man titles than any other strongman competitor, winning the event in 2008 for his fifth time. He made his victorious mixed martial arts debut at KSW XII in Poland in December 2009.

He is sometimes known by the nicknames Pudzian, Dominator, Super Mariusz (Super Mario), Błękitne-oczy Dureń (Blue-eyed Git), Pyton (Python) and Duży Pyton (Big Python).

Strongman career

Mariusz Pudzianowski

Pudzianowski began workouts for strength sports at age 13.

On May 1, 1999 Pudzianowski entered his first Strongman competition, held in Płock, Poland. He achieved his first major success at the international level in 2000 when he finished fourth in his first World's Strongest Man (WSM) competition. He returned to win the WSM contest in 2002, and retained his title in 2003 by the largest margin ever achieved in the competition. In March 2004, he also became the Strongman Super Series World Champion.

He initially finished third in the WSM contest in 2004 but was later disqualified after testing positive for a banned performance enhancing substance. He was forced to return his prize money, stripped of the International Federation of Strength Athletes points from the event, and received a one-year ban from competition. Pudzianowski did not dispute his banned substance violation and waived his right to have his stool sample verified.^{[citation needed]} He then returned to win the title for a third time in 2005.

In the 2006 World's Strongest Man contest, he came second to Phil Pfister.

Pudzianowski regained his title in 2007, winning with one event to spare (which he had also done in 2003 and 2005) and joining Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Magnús Ver Magnússon as the only four-time winners.

In the WSM 2007 competition, Pudzianowski said that his target was to become the only person to win the event five times, which he did by winning the WSM 2008 competition in the very last event ahead of Derek Poundstone. He succeeded despite a serious calf injury, which he suffered in the Polish Strongman Championship Cup of 2008 and further exacerbated during the WSM qualifying rounds, seriously threatening his chance of even reaching the final.

He competed in the 2009 World Strongest Man competition, which took place in Malta, placing second after Žydrūnas Savickas, but it is uncertain if Pudzianowski wants to come back to strongman due to his decision to try Mixed Martial Arts.

Diet

In one of the World Strongman events shown on TV Mariusz when asked about diet said: "I eat everything. Lots of vegetables."

Pudzianowski commenting on his diet, "My energy comes from my diet. Breakfast is 10 eggs and 2-3 pounds of bacon. Between meals, I eat lots of candy. I need it for energy. Lunch, at 1 or 2 p.m., is a double meal of a Polish pork chop, sauerkraut and potatoes.

An hour later, I work out, then take lots of supplements: magnesium, creatine, amino acids, all that stuff, and more chocolate.

Dinner is whatever meat I can get: steaks, pork chops, bacon, plus more sauerkraut and potatoes. [After I work out] I have a protein shake and more chocolate."

In an interview at the beginning of his world strongman career he said that his supplements, training, massages, etc. cost him about 6000 PLN (ca. $2050 USD as of Dec 2009 exchange rate) per month.^[2]

Achievements

Professional Competitive Record - [1st (42),2nd (7) ,3rd (4) - Out of Total(59)]
Performance Metric - .964 [Polish - .995 International - .953]

Completed contests

Competition	Location	Outcome	Date
World's Strongest Man	Valetta, Malta	2nd place	2009-03-10
World's Strongest Man	Charleston, West Virginia, USA	Winner	9/6-14/2008
World Strongman Federation Grand Prix	Silichy, Belarus	Winner	2008-03-08
Poland Cup	Poland	Winner	2008-02-08
World Strongman Federation Grand Prix (Globe's Strongest Man)	Russia	Winner	2008
Poland vs. The World	Poland	Winner	2008
Mohegan Sun Super Series Grand Prix	Uncasville, Connecticut, USA	2nd place	2008-01-19
World's Strongest Man	Anaheim, California, USA	Winner	2007
Svend Karlsens Viking Power Super Series Grand Prix	Norway	Winner	2007
Venice Beach Super Series Grand Prix	Venice Beach, California, USA	2nd place	2007
Mohegan Sun Super Series Grand Prix	Uncasville, Connecticut, USA	Winner	2007
European Championship	Poland	Winner	2007
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix	England	Winner	2007
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix	Latvia	Winner	2007
World's Strongest Man	Sanya, China	2nd place	2006
Poland Super Series Grand Prix	Poland	Winner	2006
Moscow Super Series Grand Prix	Moscow, Russia	Winner	2006
Mohegan Sun Super Series Grand Prix	Uncasville, Connecticut, USA	Winner	2006
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix	Russia	Winner	2006
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix	Poland	Winner	2006
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix	Latvia	Winner	2006
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix	Belarus	Winner	2006
Arnold's Strongest Man	Columbus, Ohio, USA	6th place	2005
World's Strongest Man	Chengdu, China	Winner	2005
Poland vs. The World	Poland	Winner	2005
Mohegan Sun Super Series Grand Prix	Uncasville, Connecticut, USA	Winner	2005
Sweden Super Series Grand Prix	Sweden	Winner	2005
Poland Super Series Grand Prix	Poland	Winner	2005
Venice Beach Super Series Grand Prix	Venice Beach, California, USA	Winner	2005
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix	Austria	Winner	2005
Arnold's Strongest Man	Columbus, Ohio, USA	4th place	2004
World's Strongest Man	Nassau, Paradise Island, The Bahamas	Disqualified (originally 3rd place)	2004
European Championship	Jelenia Gora, Poland	Winner	2004
World Team Championship	Plock, Poland	Winner	2004
Moscow Super Series Grand Prix	Moscow, Russia	Winner	2004
Polish Cup	Poland	Winner	2004
World's Strongest Man	Victoria Falls, Zambia	Winner	2003
European Championship	Sandomierz, Poland	Winner	2003
World Team Championship	Hungary	Winner	2003
Ylitornio Challenge	Finland	Winner	2003
World Record Breakers	Gdynia, Poland	Winner	2003
Polish Cup	Poland	Winner	2003
Arnold's Strongest Man	Columbus, Ohio, USA	5th place	2003
Finland Super Series Grand Prix	Finland	2nd place	2003
Canada Super Series Grand Prix	Canada	2nd place	2003
Holland Super Series Grand Prix	Holland	Winner	2003
Hawaii Super Series Grand Prix	Hawaii, USA	Winner	2003
World's Strongest Man	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Winner	2002
Hawaii Super Series Grand Prix	Hawaii, USA	3rd place	2002
Sweden Super Series Grand Prix	Sweden	5th place	2002
European Championship	Gdynia, Poland	Winner	2002
Polish Cup	Poland	2nd place	2002
World Team Championship	Hungary	3rd place	2002
World's Giants	Ireland	Winner	2002
World's Strongest Man	Sun City, South Africa	4th place	2000
Helsinki Grand Prix	Finland	10th place	2000
World Team Championship	Hungary	2nd place	2000
World Cup Grand Prix	Poland	Winner	2000
World Team Championship	China	3rd place	1999
Polish Cup	Poland	Winner	1999

Rugby

Pudzianowski is also a keen amateur rugby union player,^[3][4] and plays with Blachy Pruszyński Budowlani Lodz.^[5]

Blachy coach Miroslaw Szczepanski said of him:

I'm very pleased with his performance. He is an absolute world-level champion. You have to remember that his is an individual, non-contact, sport, yet he is still able to synchronize himself with the team despite few actual team practices. He came in during a very difficult situation while had to defend and played in the forwards. He was immensely invaluable, especially in the scrums, where thanks to his strength and power we were able to push the opponent back twenty metres

—^[5]

Musical career

In 2005, Mariusz formed a musical group called Pudzian Band, with himself as a singer. In 2006 the Pudzian band toured for the first time and they recorded the song Zdobyć świat ("To Conquer the World"). The other members of the group are Krystian Pudzianowski (Mariusz's brother), and Anna Brzozowska.

Education

On 27 May 2008 he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations. His thesis: "Organizational culture in sports marketing in the world".^[6]

Imprisonment

Mariusz spent 19 months in prison.^[7][8]

Mariusz was quoted in an interview with TV magazine "Fakt TV" as saying, "Do aresztu śledczego wsadził mnie miejscowy boss. Jest człowiekiem bardzo wpływowym i wyjątkowo brutalnym. Właśnie poszło o tę brutalność, bo nie mogłem patrzeć, jak się znęcał nad osiemnastoletnim chłopakiem. Bił go, aż chłopak upadł, potem skopał leżącego i stanął mu butem na twarzy. Właśnie ta scena z butem wyprowadziła mnie z równowagi" - opowiedział magazynowi Faktu Pudzian.^[7]

(English translation: "A local (mafia) boss got me into jail. He's very influential and a very brutal person. It was because of this brutality. I couldn't just stand and watch as he physically abused an eighteen year old boy. He hit the boy until he fell down and then he kicked him and put a shoe in/stood on his face. It was that scene with the shoe that made me angry/made me lose it" - Pudzian told Fakt. ^[9])

As a result he spent 19 months in jail, because the thug accused him of assault and stealing his gold chain. In jail, Pudzianowski spent his time training. Several years later he organized a rehabilitation/resocialization meeting in the same penal institution.^[10][11] Because of the imprisonment he could not participate in some of 2000 and all of 2001 strongman events.

Dancing With The Stars (Polish version)

Mariusz took part in the 2008 Polish version of Dancing with the Stars, eventually finishing in second place overall.

Despite often placing in the bottom two, his popularity with the audience saw him voted through to the grand final.^[12]

Mixed Martial Arts career

Apart from the WSM, Pudzianowski is a fourth kyu green belt in Kyokushin kaikan karate, and has also trained as an amateur boxer.^[13]

Mariusz Pudzianowski faced off against fellow MMA newcomer Marcin Najman in a heavyweight match-up in Warsaw, Poland as the headliner for KSW XII. Mariusz won the fight in 0:43 of the first round by tap-out due to punches and leg kicks.

The Pudzianowski-Najman fight was one of the most anticipated Polish fighting sport events in years.

Before the fight Mariusz said: "Lewa ręka niesie za sobą śmierć, a prawej sam się boję." (English: "The left hand brings death, but the right one even I am afraid of.") ^[14][15] According to the press, Mariusz collected 200,000 PLN for this fight ($70,475 as of 11/12/2009 exchange rate), with his opponent getting four times less that amount. In an interview, he said that he is going to fight Fedor Emelianenko and take The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts(WAMMA) title from him.^{[citation needed] [16]}

Pudzianowski will next fight at KSW XIII against Robert Paczków.

Just two weeks later, he will fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia^[17] in the U.S.

Mixed Martial Arts record

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
		Tim Sylvia			May 21, 2010
		Robert Paczków		KSW XIII	May 7, 2010			Katowice, Poland
Win	1–0	Marcin Najman	Submission (Strikes)	KSW XII	December 11, 2009	1	0:43	Warsaw, Poland	MMA debut

External links

• Official website (Polish)
• Mariusz Pudzianowski Fan Site
• Sherdog.com MMA Blog: The Big Pudzianowski: Polish Strongman Mulling Emelianenko

Footnotes