Takanofuji Sanzō

He was born as Tsuyoshi Kamiyama in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture. He has a Japanese father and Filipino mother. He is the older of identical twins, and is distinguished from his brother by the fact that he has a mole near his upper lip. They also have an older sister. They grew up in Sakai, Ibaraki Prefecture. Their sister played soccer in national competitions at high school and the twins both played basketball, representing Ibaraki Prefecture in national competition and coming in third place.

The brothers had no amateur sumo experience but were encouraged by their father to give professional sumo a try. They joined Takanohana stable in March 2013. Tsuyoshi initially wrestled under the shikona of Takayoshitoshi and made his jūryō debut in March 2018. With his brother Takagenji already in the division it was the first time in sumo history that twins had both achieved sekitori status.[1] However he withdrew partway through that tournament and was suspended from the next for assaulting his personal attendant or tsukebito after a match.[2][3] He was reportedly angry that the attendant was late in telling him the time of his match, making him late entering the stadium.[4] His absence resulted in him falling back to the makushita division. His stablemaster, former yokozuna Takanohana, was demoted in the Sumo Association's hierarchy for failing to report the incident to them and subsequently decided to leave the Sumo Association altogether.[5] Upon the resignation of his stablemaster Takayoshitoshi moved along with his stablemates to Chiganoura stable in October 2018.

He returned to jūryō in March 2019 under his new name of Takanofuji, although he lasted only one tournament before being demoted. In May he won the makushita championship or yūshō with a perfect 7–0 score, ensuring his return to jūryō. In July 2019 he was ranked at jūryō 12, his highest rank to date, with his brother Takagenji making his top makuuchi division debut in the same tournament.[6] Takanofuji had his best result in the division, an 11–4 record, which ensured a new highest rank of jūryō 5 for the following tournament. However, this was to be his final tournament appearance.

Takanofuji was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, who sought a grip on the mawashi rather than pushing or thrusting. His preferred grip was migi-yotsu, a right hand inside and left hand outside position. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward yori-kiri or force out.[13]

After concluding his sumo wrestling career, Takanofuji said in an interview in July 2020 that he was training to become an MMA fighter and hoped to enter a Rizin event.[17] In order to be eligible to compete in the heavyweight division in mixed martial arts, Sudario lost around 110 pounds (50 kg) before his debut.[16]

He made his professional debut against James Raideen on September 27 at Rizin 24.[18] He won the fight via doctor stoppage after the first round.[19]

Takanofuji made his sophomore appearance in the sport against Ikuhisa Minowa at Rizin 26 on December 31, 2020.[20] He won the fight via first-round technical knockout.[21]

[15]

• List of past sumo wrestlers
• Controversies in professional sumo
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of current Rizin FF fighters

• Takanofuji Sanzō's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage
• Professional MMA record for Takanofuji Sanzō from Sherdog