I think the answer to ‘who wants to see Alistair Overeem in a sumo wrestling competition’ is exactly the same as ‘who likes watching people cry while they eat.’ I know for a fact that for everyone in MiddleEasy towers (which is exactly like Seattle’s Space Needle, but virtual) the answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes. If you’re like me, your knowledge of sumo goes as far as knowing whose teeth were implanted in Gerard Gordeau’s foot at UFC 1, then you’ll probably not have heard of ‘Ultimate Sumo Championship.’ The whole first tournament from May featured Semmy Schilt and Hayato “Mach” Sakurai among others and can be watched in its at the bottom of this article. The second tournament was aired in Japan and while footage hasn’t leaked onto the internet yet, the competitors were as followed:
- Minowaman vs. Shinichi Suzukawa
- Yanagiryuken vs. Wanderlei Silva
- Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yasuyuki Hirose (Yasudadai Circus’ Hiro)
- Alistair Overeem vs. Winner of a preliminary match
Lovers of JMMA might mistake this for an MMA card from a few years ago, and I completely understand. The first tournament included PRIDE highlights and even used the PRIDE theme music while also ‘borrowing’ the old UFC logo. I can’t wait for videos to break of this event, even if just to see if Yanagiryuken pulls out a no-touch KO over Wanderlei Silva. [Source]
