With no MMA fights currently lined up, Curtis Blaydes and Anthony Johnson decided to dip their toes into the world of sumo wrestling, and the results were thoroughly entertaining.
Yup, they competed in sumo. Gear on, bare backsides, mawashi belts and everything.
The SubStars grappling event took place Friday night in Miami, where Blaydes and Johnson took on sumo wrestlers Ryuichi Yamamoto and Takeshi Amitani, respectively, in a “Celebrity Sumo Round Robin” before squaring off with each other in an all-MMA sumo showdown.
Blaydes was first up, as he took on lighter-weight opposition in the form of 210-pound sumo champion Amitani, but the seasoned sumo operator was able to quickly drag Blaydes to the ground, and eventually ended things with a big hip toss.
Meanwhile, Johnson faced Yamamoto, who’s believed to be the heaviest Japanese-born sumo wrestler in the world (and, who knows, perhaps the heaviest Japanese person ever), at a whopping 600 pounds.
The usually intimidating “Rumble” was picked up like a small child by Yamamoto before eventually being thrown out of the circle.
Finally, Blaydes and Johnson faced off for bragging rights of being MMA’s foremost sumo wrestler.
In Round 1, Johnson was able to quickly drag Blaydes down, where Blaydes managed to stay on his feet by pinning his hand down on the mat. But in Round 2, Blaydes used Johnson’s forward momentum to drag him out of the ring and tie things up at one round apiece.
Then, in the third and deciding round, Blaydes utilized an inside trip to take Johnson down and win the match.
It kept the competitive juices flowing for Blaydes, who is waiting patiently for a shot at the UFC heavyweight title, while for Johnson it was a novel way to get back into competition after his summer appearance at Quintet Ultra.
It also teased a matchup that could potentially be made a little further down the line, with “Rumble” considering a return to the octagon as a heavyweight. Now he’s had a little taste of what it’s like to grapple with one of the heavyweight division’s best.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
Watch Curtis Blaydes beat 'Rumble' Johnson … in a sumo wrestling match