Rizin CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara is interested in an MMA fight between professional sumo wrestler Baruto Kaito and Fedor Emelianenko.
While hordes of heavyweights have called out Fedor Emelianenko since his return to MMA several months ago, the call outs have now extended past professional fighters to sumo wrestlers.
Renowned Estonian sumo competitor Baruto Kaito made his MMA debut against Peter Aerts at the Rizin Fighting Federation New Year’s Eve show and won the contest by unanimous decision. According to the promotion’s CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Baruto will likely compete on the next Rizin event before working his way towards a potential match-up against Fedor.
“We would like Baruto to return to the ring in April, Sakakibara told Tass.ru. “He has great potential and if we talk about the near future, he may even become an opponent of Fedor. When I talked with Baruto, he said that he would like to enter the ring against Fedor.”
Baruto made his professional sumo debut in 2004 and is one of two Estonians to ever compete in the sport. He managed to reach the Tp Division in 2006 and eventually became champion in early 2012. He retired the following year at 28 due to various injuries. However, his achievements saw Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves award him the Order of the White Star in 2012.
According to Sakakibara, the potential fight depends on whether Fedor is interested in being matched up with an opponent far bigger than himself.
“Baruto, despite the fact that he is a newcomer in the world of combat sports, he won his first fight last year. He is now hard training and weighs 170 kg. The question is, whether Fedor is ready to meet such an opponent on the other side. Fedor has never been scrupulous in such matters. He met with opponents that greatly exceeds his weight like Hong Man Choi and Zulu. So, let’s see.”