Licis was born in Riga on September 28, 1990. He holds dual citizenship with Latvia and the United States, and speaks Latvian fluently. He represents the United States in competition, having moved there with his family at the age of four. He grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts. During summers, he visited his grandparents' farm in Latvia, where he was first introduced to stone lifting by his grandfather, who was a sculptor. At the age of 20, he moved to Los Angeles, CA. He soon got a maintenance job and worked that for the first year and then eventually got a job as a personal trainer. Eventually wanting to get into strongman he contacted the man in charge of the All American Strength Classic at the LA Fit Expo. That man turned out to be the one and only Odd Haugen. He asked if he could compete and told Odd his lifts but Odd said he wasn't strong enough yet. Martins said he just wanted to meet other competitors and network so Odd said well come to my house and you can train with me. 3 years into training Odd let him compete at the LA Fit Expo Where he took 1st and got his pro card. Odd Haugen eventually opened his own gym, the Training Hall, and eventually Martins became part-owner. He continues to work as a personal trainer and part-owner of the Training Hall when not competing.
Career
In 2015 Martins placed first in the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic. In 2016 Martins reached World's Strongest Man finals for the first time and placed sixth. He placed fourth in the World’s Strongest Man finals in 2017 and 2018. Besides Strongman, Martins Licis also competes in MAS Wrestling, a variation of stick wrestling. He won gold in the 2016 MAS Wrestling Open World Championships in Columbus Ohio. Licis first pro triumph came in 2017 at the Ultimate Strongman Summermania, winning the competition representing his home country Latvia. In 2019 Licis came in second during the Arnold Strongman Classic, placing behind current and 2x champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. In June 2019, he upset the strongman world and won his first World’s Strongest Man title, beating out Bjornsson, who came in third after injuring his left plantar fascia. Martins also placed ahead of Mateusz Kieliszkowski, who placed second, and 4 times World's Strongest Man winner Brian Shaw, who placed sixth after injuring his hamstring competing alongside Licis in the Arnold Strongman Classic earlier in March of the same year. On January 18, 2020 Martins won the Arnold Strongman Santa Monica Qualifier, beating out Brian Shaw by 1 point. This earned him a spot to compete in the Arnold Strongman Classic in Columbus, Ohio on March 8. In the Arnold Strongman Classic Licis finished 3rd, behind the winner Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and the second place Mateusz Kieliszkowski.
