Chiyodaigo Yusei

Chiyodaigo Yusei - 千代大豪 勇星 (born February 28, 1998) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Amagasaki, Hyogo. He made his debut in July 2016 and currently wrestles for Kokonoe stable. His highest rank as of 2023 is makushita 34.

## **Early Life**

Kinjo began practicing karate during his fifth year of elementary school and he began studying mixed martial arts while attending Amagasaki Municipal Minamimukonoso junior high school. His favorite MMA fighter is Fedor Emelianenko. Aspiring to become an MMA fighter as soon as possible, he dropped out of Eishin Gakuen High School and worked in the dismantling industry while simultaneously training at a dojo. He later participated in some arm wrestling tournaments and took second place at the JAWA (Japan Arm Wrestling Federation) All Japan Junior Championship in May 2016. He later met a former Kokonoe stable wrestler at a gym and subsequently joined Kokonoe stable to pursue a career in professional sumo.

## **Career**

He made his professional debut in July 2016 and initially wrestled under his surname Kinjo. Upon promotion to sandanme in May 2017 he was given the shikona "Chiyodaigo" (千代大豪). He reached the makushita division in July 2019, however, he underwent surgery on his right elbow after the November 2020 tournament and subsequently missed the following three tournaments. This resulted in a drop back down to jonidan in November 2021. In September 2022, Chiyodaigo won all seven matches, but he missed out on the jonidan yusho after losing to Takahashi in the playoff.

## **Personal Life**

* Chiyonofuji passed away after Chiyodaigo's first tournament in July 2016 so he became the yokozuna's last recruit.
* When joining sumo, he already had long hair and it took him less than half year to form a top knot.

## **Fighting Style**

Chiyodaigo is an oshi-sumo wrestler who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to fighting on the mawashi. His most common kimarite used are oshidashi (push out) and hatakikomi (slap down).

Due to his mixed martial arts background, Chiyodaigo has been known to employ powerful slaps (a completely legal move) in his matches. However, this has earned him some criticism as he has injured multiple of his opponents. In only his first tournament, he concussed Tsushimanada and knocked out Maeta three tournaments later. Moreover, he reportedly knock out a stablemate's tooth during training and received a reprimand from his stablemaster (former ozeki Chiyotaikai) who stated that "sumo is not a fight."

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 134-83-84/215 (44 basho)
* **Makushita:** 16-16-17/32 (7 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 81-54-47/133 (26 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 31-11-14/42 (8 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-2-6/8 (2 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Kinjo Yusei (2016.07 - 2017.03)
* Chiyodaigo Yusei (2017.05 - )

## **Gallery**

Chiyodaigo gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2016)Chiyodaigo battles Yoshii (c. 2020)Chiyodaigo defeats Kototaisei (c. 2022)Chiyodaigo ensures a Jonidan playoff (c. 2022)Chiyodaigo loses the Jonidan playoff to Takahashi (c. 2022)Chiyodaigo prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2022)
## **Sources**

* Chiyodaigo Yusei Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Chiyodaigo Yusei Rikishi Information