All top stars from Sparta Fight Gym are staying with UTMA—the promotion has signed long-term agreements with five of the gym’s premier fighters: Vitas Karosas, Raimondas Avlasevičius, Raimondas Krilavičius, Edvinas Šalkovskis, and Ričardas Kulis.
Reigning 67 kg UTMA Muay Thai champion V. Karosas (7-4, 2 KOs UTMA) will continue his campaign in the UTMA ring. Karosas made his promotional debut at UTMA 4 and claimed the 67 kg Muay Thai crown at UTMA 8 by defeating Arnestas Naujokas.
Karosas has since defended his belt twice—defeating Naujokas in a rematch at UTMA 11, before successfully retaining his throne against Cengiz Lale at UTMA 18.
R. Avlasevičius (4-1-1, 3 KOs UTMA) debuted in the organization at UTMA 9 with a win over Matas Pultaražinskas. He reached the peak of his promotional run at UTMA 12 by defeating Henrikas Vikšraitis to become the inaugural UTMA 75 kg kickboxing champion. Although he dropped the title to Nikolai Cvetkovic at UTMA 13, Avlasevičius returned to the win column at UTMA 17.
While UTMA’s recent competitive restructuring directly affected R. Krilavičius (4-1, 1 KO UTMA), who was stripped of his 77 kg belt due to the division being discontinued, he will continue his career in the newly configured 75 kg weight class. Krilavičius began his promotional run back at UTMA 2 with an MMA victory, returned at UTMA 9 by defeating Dovydas Rimkus, and has competed under kickboxing rules ever since. He earned his title at UTMA 17, dethroning Mantvydas Perednis in a grueling five-round battle.
Featured in some of the promotion’s biggest blockbusters, E. Šalkovskis (3-2, 2 KOs UTMA) will continue to prove himself in the heaviest weight classes. Šalkovskis debuted with a victory at UTMA 9 and teamed up with Ignas Pauliukevičius to deliver one of the most memorable battles in promotional history at UTMA 16.
R. Kulis will also have more opportunities to showcase his skills under the new deal. In his lone UTMA appearance to date at UTMA 16, the Sparta representative secured a second-round TKO victory over Mindaugas Narauskas.
Alongside the athletes, Sparta Fight Gym head coach Andrius Šipaila also signed a symbolic contract.
“We have a high win percentage, few losses, and have competed across many events, featuring in main or co-main events on most cards. These achievements are rewarding, and we want to maintain and build on them. Naturally, raising the bar will be tough because competition in UTMA is fierce right now. We’ve fought nearly all the current UTMA champions—the only one we haven’t faced yet is Dovydas Levickis, and that matchup is already on deck. We have a roster full of high-level athletes, and our goal is to capture every UTMA belt. Will we succeed? You always have to set the highest possible targets,” said Šipaila.
