Takanofuji Sanzo

Moving from the sumo ring to the cage is not the smooth pivot that headlines make it sound like. Sumo is decided in a few explosive seconds of pushing and gripping; mixed martial arts adds striking, grappling on the floor, and rounds that keep going long after a sumo bout would have ended. Takanofuji Sanzō — now competing as Tsuyoshi Sudario — was born in 1997 and rose to jūryō, the second-highest division, before leaving the sport. He and his twin brother Takagenji were the first twins ever to both reach that division, which is the kind of footnote that will outlive most careers. He did not leave sumo by choice. After striking an attendant for the second time, he was suspended from the September 2019 tournament and asked to retire by the Japan Sumo Association, and he quit in October 2019. Starting again at the bottom of mixed martial arts after that is a real effort, but the reason he had to start over belongs in the story.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

Takanofuji Sanzo

Name (Japanese)

スダリオ剛

Reading

すだりおつよし

Born

May 13, 1997 (age 29)

Origin

Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Occupation

rikishi / mixed martial arts fighter

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Ox

• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/tsuyoshi__13/
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takanofuji%20Sanz%C5%8D
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%80%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AA%E5%89%9B
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q38276186

Tags

• Tochigi Prefecture
• rikishi
• mixed martial arts fighter

Last updated

September 29, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.