29-year old Sumo champion Asashōryū Akinori retired today and there is a rumour he is interested in MMA. Akinori is 330-lbs. and has a background in Mongolian wrestling and judo. He has won over 25 tournaments and had a seven year reign as Yokozuna, the highest level in Sumo. Akinori is reportedly being courted by Japanese promotions. Akebono Tarō competed in MMA for a spell. Between 2003-06 the Hawaiian Sumo wrestler had 13 fights in K-1, several of which used integrated MMA rules. He complied an abysmal 1-12 record losing every round of every fight except for in his fight with Nobuaki Kakuda, which he won by unanimous decision.
Yeah, hard to envision him doing well. Satoshi Ishii was supposed to be the next big thing in Japan, but a gold medal in judo does not equal MMA skill. Seems like they are still looking for someone other than Aoki to be the face of MMA in Japan with Saku gone and the PRIDE guys starting to fade.
