Born in the eastern Lithuanian city of Utena to Helenas and Rolandas Sakickiene, Remigijus knew from an early age what his life calling was "Ive always been a fighter, I was always fighting with other kids and getting in trouble.
And so it what was, that his father, a former amatuer boxer in the Lithuanian army, forced the boy to box. "When I first started boxing, I really enjoyed it and picked it up really quickly"
By the age of 11, Remigijus had won 3 ABA schoolboy tournaments, but boxing didn't seem to fill his violent appetite,
"I love to box, I really do. But nothing feels the same as kicking, and I felt when I was boxing I was missing out on kicking, what if I fought someone who could kick? Id be fucked"
So, he enrolled in the only class he could find, Taekwondo. "Taekwondo was weird at first, they were teaching us techniques, but we werent fighting"
After only 2 months of training, Remi forced his insturctor to let him enter a tournament. Which, unsurprisingly if you know Remi, he won.
"After this tournament was the last time I ever seen my dad, he died of a heart attack. So I said to myself, I going to stick with this, for my dad"
4 years later, Remi, by now 15, was considered a Lithuanian prodigy and a potential medallist at the 2008 Olympic games. "It was 2006, the Olympics were 2 years away. Here in Lithuania we never really do good at the Olympics, so any potential medallist becomes an icon, the Lithuanians hope. I began to feel that fighting was being put 2nd."
So at age 16, before his TKD career had even begun, he retired. "Who wantes to be a pussy points fighter anyway? I want to finish fights with the other in a heep at my feet"
The Lithuanian press weren't so forgiving, berating him for quitting and losing them a possible medal. So with the support of his mother, he moved to Thailand, to live on a Muay Thai camp.
"At first it was hard, but I enjoyed it more and more"
During his time in Thailand he met Diego Aranzeila, a BJJ black belt who was in Thailand to train for an upcoming MMA fight, always interested in other fighting styles, Remi began to train with him.
"Before I met Diego I didn't know much about MMA and nothing about Jiu Jitsu, but it was fun."
In his 2 years living in Thailand, Remi ammassed a professional Muay Thai record of 44-6 fighting on small local shows "Fighting in Thailand was cool, but I was longing for more, I didn't want to live in Thailand for the rest of my life, I fought under different rules a few times, I have a K1 record of 2-0"
The FEG owned company K1 began to look at Remi as a potential star. "When K1 offered me a fight on one of their Max shows, I was really happy, I signed the contract to fight immedately"
The fights itself finished in a 3rd round TKO for his oppenent, but Remi had this to say, "During the fight, my head wasnt with me, I know I could beat that guy if I tried. But my mind was thinking of other things, I kept thinking of the things Diego showed me, I wanted to take this guy down and submit him. So after the fight finished, I decided Im going to fight MMA."
Remi packed his things from the hostel in Thailand he was living in and moved to Tokyo, "I'm now in Japan ready to wreck some people, I may not be a very good grappler or wrestler, but I know I can strike with anyone, and Im training hard everyday."
Look out Tokyo, Remigijus Sakickiene is gonna tear some shit up.
