Tag: Sumo

UFC Fighter Vanessa Demopoulos Faced a Sumo Wrestler; The Results Were Hilarious

Vanessa DemopoulosUFC’s ‘Lil Monster’ Vanessa Demopoulos has made her first, and likely last foray into sumo wrestling. Reminiscent of the UFC’s early days when weight classes were unheard of, the strawweight competitor decided to test her skills against Egyptian sumo wrestler Ramy Elgazar. Tipping the scales at 499 pounds, Elgazar outweighs Demopoulos by more than 380 […]

Vanessa Demopoulos

UFC’s ‘Lil Monster’ Vanessa Demopoulos has made her first, and likely last foray into sumo wrestling.

Reminiscent of the UFC’s early days when weight classes were unheard of, the strawweight competitor decided to test her skills against Egyptian sumo wrestler Ramy Elgazar. Tipping the scales at 499 pounds, Elgazar outweighs Demopoulos by more than 380 pounds. Needless to say, the sparring match did not go Demopoulos’ way.

Posting a video clip of the brief, but entertaining encounter on Instagram, Vanessa Demopoulos stated that “size doesn’t matter,” but the way things played out, she may have been mistaken. At the start of the contest, ‘Lil Monster’ jumps into the arms of Elgazar with something akin to professional wrestling. Perhaps she was going for a cross-body block or a hurricanrana, but neither worked out in her favor. Instead, Demopoulos was playfully launched head over heels and slammed back down onto the mat. The smile on her face following the slam clearly showed the two were just having some fun.

“It was an honor to wrestle World Class Professional Sumo Wrestlers,” said Demopolous in her post on social media.

Vanessa Demopoulos is Riding High Following Back-to-Back Wins in the Octagon

Despite a loss in Dana White‘s Contender Series, Vanessa Demopoulos was given an opportunity to compete at a UFC Fight Night event in August 2021. On that night she fell to opponent JJ Aldrich via unanimous decision. When it seemed like her UFC career had been cut short, ‘Lil Monster’ got the call to face Silvana Gómez Juárez five months later at UFC 270.

Scoring a first-round submission via armbar, Demopoulos famously jumped into the arms of Joe Rogan during her post-fight interview. ‘Lil Monster’ replicated the celebration with Michael Bisping in June following a split decision win over Jinh Yu Frey.

Following the win, Vanessa Demopoulos confirmed that she would be back in the Octagon before the end of 2022, but was going to take her family on vacation first.

“I’m looking forward to fighting in MMA prior to the end of the year,” said Demopoulos while speaking to Cageside Press. “Right now, my full focus is being able to go on this vacation with my family, which I promised them for so many years now, that as soon as I made it to the UFC, I’ll go to Greece with you guys. So that’s coming up at the end of this month. I couldn’t be happier to spend family time, and then once I get back, I’m gonna be right back into gear and ready to rock n’ roll.”

Must See: 400-Pound Sumo Wrestler Gets Ragdolled, Causes Minor Earthquake

(Warning: Shrill audio and excessive fat-guy ass-crack. Props: Andbabcock via Reddit_MMA)

We usually don’t give sumo wrestling much attention on this site — look, if I wanted to see two fat guys try to push each other out of the way, I’d go to a Golden Corral five minutes before closing time — but this was too incredible not to post. The above video was taken yesterday at the US Sumo Open in Los Angeles, where Mongolian beast Byamba Ulambayar took on Kelly “Man of Fat Steel” Gneiting, a 400+ pound sumo, swimmer, and marathon runner. Gneiting’s athletic accomplishments are stunning for a man of his girth, but on this particular Sunday he was tossed like a disobedient puppy. The moment of impact produces a shockwave through the earth, visibly rattling the camera, and it is absolutely wonderful. Enjoy.


(Warning: Shrill audio and excessive fat-guy ass-crack. Props: Andbabcock via Reddit_MMA)

We usually don’t give sumo wrestling much attention on this site — look, if I wanted to see two fat guys try to push each other out of the way, I’d go to a Golden Corral five minutes before closing time — but this was too incredible not to post. The above video was taken yesterday at the US Sumo Open in Los Angeles, where Mongolian beast Byamba Ulambayar took on Kelly “Man of Fat Steel” Gneiting, a 400+ pound sumo, swimmer, and marathon runner. Gneiting’s athletic accomplishments are stunning for a man of his girth, but on this particular Sunday he was tossed like a disobedient puppy. The moment of impact produces a shockwave through the earth, visibly rattling the camera, and it is absolutely wonderful. Enjoy.

[VIDEO] Tom Lawlor Sumo-Wrestles His Way Into Canada’s Heart at the UFC 154 Open Workouts

I’d like to consider myself a psychologist of sorts, the way that George Costanza considers himself an architect. Sure, my degree might have been acquired less at an accredited institute and more in my own imagination, but based on several interviews I’ve either read or watched in the past, I can professionally declare that Tom Lawlor is crazier than a sack of rabid weasels. The crazy ring entrances, the outfits, this isn’t a man trying to leave his stamp on the UFC, these are the early signs of schizophrenia. Trust me, I’ve diagnosed this sort of thing before.

And while I wouldn’t declare Lawlor sane enough to stand trial, let alone fight professionally for a living, I will gladly watch his decent into madness if it means more antics like the stuff he pulled at the UFC 154 open workouts, which will easily go down as the coolest open workout display since ever.

An unabashed fan of the WWE, Tom introduces his trio of sumo as the “Sumo Suave” to Ariel Helwani in the above video before squaring off with both gentlemen after the jump. Diapers were worn. Necks were bitten. Enjoy.

I’d like to consider myself a psychologist of sorts, the way that George Costanza considers himself an architect. Sure, my degree might have been acquired less at an accredited institute and more in my own imagination, but based on several interviews I’ve either read or watched in the past, I can professionally declare that Tom Lawlor is crazier than a sack of rabid weasels. The crazy ring entrances, the outfits, this isn’t a man trying to leave his stamp on the UFC, these are the early signs of schizophrenia. Trust me, I’ve diagnosed this sort of thing before.

And while I wouldn’t declare Lawlor sane enough to stand trial, let alone fight professionally for a living, I will gladly watch his decent into madness if it means more antics like the stuff he pulled at the UFC 154 open workouts, which will easily go down as the coolest open workout display since ever.

An unabashed fan of the WWE, Tom introduces his trio of sumo as the “Sumo Suave” to Ariel Helwani in the above video before squaring off with both gentlemen after the jump. Diapers were worn. Necks were bitten. Enjoy.

Speaking of psychopaths in Depends, make sure to swing by CagePotato tomorrow at 10 pm EST for our liveblog of all of the UFC 154 action.

–J. Jones

Video: 200-Pound Judo Player Destroys Group of Hopeless Fat-Bodies in Sumo Tournament

(Props: NYCulturalPhysician via RedditMMA)

The athletic gaijin in the video above is Pavel Bojar (aka Takanoyama Shuntaro), a Czech sumo wrestler who has worked his way into Japan’s top Makuuchi division, despite being one of the lightest competitors in modern sumo history. At 6’1″ and just 200 pounds, Bojar relies on his judo background to make up for the tremendous weight disadvantages he generally faces, employing a slick arsenal of throws and trips, rather than just bull-rushing his opponents out of the ring. Watch the above video to see how far a little bit of actual grappling talent can get you in this weird sport. Look, I’m not trying to crack on the rich history of Japanese sumo wrestling, but for God’s sake, check out the tits on the guy at the 1:52 mark, who had just finished falling out of the ring like a moron. This is an athlete? Ronda Rousey would ruin half of these guys.


(Props: NYCulturalPhysician via RedditMMA)

The athletic gaijin in the video above is Pavel Bojar (aka Takanoyama Shuntaro), a Czech sumo wrestler who has worked his way into Japan’s top Makuuchi division, despite being one of the lightest competitors in modern sumo history. At 6’1″ and just 200 pounds, Bojar relies on his judo background to make up for the tremendous weight disadvantages he generally faces, employing a slick arsenal of throws and trips, rather than just bull-rushing his opponents out of the ring. Watch the above video to see how far a little bit of actual grappling talent can get you in this weird sport. Look, I’m not trying to crack on the rich history of Japanese sumo wrestling, but for God’s sake, check out the tits on the guy at the 1:52 mark, who had just finished falling out of the ring like a moron. This is an athlete? Ronda Rousey would ruin half of these guys.

WTF of the Day: UFC 3 Vet Emmanuel Yarborough to Appear in Canadian Opera Production


(WORST…BIRTHDAY…PARTY…EVER!)

According to a Canadian Press article, the Canadian Opera Company has recruited behemoth American sumo wrestler and UFC 3 veteran Emmanuel Yarborough for it’s upcoming production of “Semele,” — a Greek tragedy.

Yarborough will apparently take part in a three-minute staged sumo bout meant to signify “a love affair between the god Jupiter and the princess Semele that goes horribly awry when Semele sets her mind to become immortal,” says COC spokeswoman Maria Lioutaia.


(WORST…BIRTHDAY…PARTY…EVER!)

According to a Canadian Press article, the Canadian Opera Company has recruited behemoth American sumo wrestler and UFC 3 veteran Emmanuel Yarborough for it’s upcoming production of “Semele,” — a Greek tragedy.

Yarborough will apparently take part in a three-minute staged sumo bout meant to signify “a love affair between the god Jupiter and the princess Semele that goes horribly awry when Semele sets her mind to become immortal,” says COC spokeswoman Maria Lioutaia.

The 6’8″ 640-pound Guinness World Record holder who holds the distinction of being the largest professional athlete in the world answered a casting call sent out to sumo studios across North America. His “opponent” in the opera’s scene will be a Canadian named Elmer Gale, who said he has competed against Yarborough before in both disciplines.

“I hit him with everything I got and I bounced right out of the [sumo] ring,” said Gale, 47, who weighs around 320 pounds. ”I got to fight him a few years earlier in a judo tournament in Colorado and at that time I happened to best him, I threw him — it was cool.”

The real question is, who won the chicken wing eating competition after their competitions?

 

UFC Heavyweight Alistair Overeem Appears in Sumo Matches Earlier This Month

Just because taking over the world was too much work for Alistair Overeem, he has set his eyes on being dominant in every single combat sport known to mankind. Earlier this month Overeem appeared in a couple of sumo wrestling matches over in Japan and …

Just because taking over the world was too much work for Alistair Overeem, he has set his eyes on being dominant in every single combat sport known to mankind. Earlier this month Overeem appeared in a couple of sumo wrestling matches over in Japan and from what I can tell—seeing as I don’t speak Japanese […]

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UFC Heavyweight Alistair Overeem Appears in Sumo Matches Earlier This Month