Retired sumo star Asashoryu
has started a Mixed Martial Arts team made up of Mongolians to compete in the
Sengoku Raiden Championships, one of Japan”s two leading MMA brands along with
K-1″s Dream organization. Dream and Sengoku have been open about their interest
in Asashoryu as soon as he announced his retirement from sumo in February.

Sumo athletes generally have
not done well in MMA competition, but none of them has been  as talented or accomplished as Asashoryu, who
was just the third non-Japanese in sumo”s long history to become a yokozuna,
the sport”s highest rank. A surprisingly quick and agile 330-pounder, he ranks
third on the all-time list for tournament wins at the top level of sumo.