Rory Markham
“Kindness is often confused with weakness. It is those that have yet to wield strength who seldom understand the beauty and power that comes with caring for others.”
Rory Markham began his professional Mixed Martial Arts career in 2004, but his involvement in martial arts started long before.
Rory embarked on his martial journey at the tender age of 6, taking his first class in Shidokan Karate and later moving on to the Chinese art of fists: Kenpo. At the age of 13 he returned to the Japanese martial arts and began studying one of Japan’s most lethal disciplines: Kyukoshinkia Karate. Shortly thereafter, Markham entered his first full-contact competition at age 15. Despite his young age, Markham was already fighting in Kyukoshins’ bare-knuckle tournaments, often being paired against opponents in their late 20s. Markham won all his Kyukoshin matches by KO. Rory has also been competing in boxing since he was 17 years old, compiling a perfect 10-0 amateur boxing record. One of Markham’s’ most notable achievements is his advancement to black belt under the elite Miletich Fighting Systems. Famed founder and 5 time UFC Welter Weight Champion Pat Miletich, has been voted best coach in MMA ten years straight. Pat Miletich holds the world record for grooming over 19 fighters into World Champions. Rory won his first world championship in 2007 fighting for the ferocious Quad City Silverbacks. While living in Iowa for 7 years, Rory has had the privilege to train alongside some of the world’s very best fighters in Matt Hughes, Robbie Lawler, Jens Pulver, Jeremy Horn, Mike Ciesnolviech, Ryan Mcgivern, Ben Rothwell, Spencer Fisher, Drew Mcfedries and Tim Sylvia to name a few. During this time he paired with Miletich to help train the famed Seal Team 6. Rory has also worked extensively with many professional athletes’ and actors stemming from Hollywood to Hockey. During his time at home in Chicago, Markham has trained extensively at the famed Overtime School of Olympic wrestling with legendary coaches Sean Bormett and John Kadding.
FILM
In addition to his prowess in the ring, Markham has taken several acting classes throughout Chicago over the years. He applied this skill to his role of “Half-blood” in the film The Death and Life of Bobby Z with Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne. Rory was honored to accept his second film The Experiment where he played the role of a guard while making use of his skill set in helping coordinate the fight scenes and aid in the fight direction for actors Adrian Brody and Forrest Whittiker. Markham recently scored his biggest role to date in the film Setup directed by Mike Gunther, where he starred along side such film heavy weights as Bruce Willis, Ryan Phillipie, and Curtis “50 cent” Jackson. Rory landed the 4th lead in the film playing the character of Markus (a brutal body guard and ferocious friend of Ryan Phillipies’ character Vince). Rory’s most recent film endeavor was playing the ferocious Nonied Soscheck in the upcoming blockbuster Alex Cross. During his time on Alex Cross, Rory trained Matthew Fox for their fight scene in the film. Directed by Rob Cohen and also starring Tyler Perry, Rory was honored to choreograph the film’s fight scenes as well as having a speaking part as the menacing antagonist of the films underground fight world.
