Emmanuel Yarbrough (September 5, 1964 – December 21, 2015) was an American martial artist,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

, football player and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He was particularly known for his career in

amateur sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

, and held the Guinness World Record for the heaviest living athlete.

Background

Yarbrough started his sports career at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...

, where he became an offensive tackle for the college football team before joining the

college wrestling Collegiate wrestling (also known as folkstyle wrestling) is the form of wrestling practiced at the college and university level in the United States. This style of wrestling, with some slight modifications, is also practiced at high school and mi ...

team. He was given the ironic nickname "Tiny" due to his large size. He achieved

NCAA All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

Division II wrestler status in 1983 and 1985, the university later ascending to Division I in 1986, while in football he was a Division I athlete in 1982 and 1983. After college, Yarbrough trained in

judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

under

Yoshisada Yonezuka , was a Judo instructor and two time U.S. Olympic Judo Team coach. Personal life He began training in track and sumo wrestling as a child. In 1954, he began to train in judo in high school and became the Northern Japan High School Champion in 1955 ...

, who coached him to a silver medal victory at the US Nationals tournament at brown belt level. This experience would lead him to take a further interest in martial arts, exploring

and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

Amateur sumo career

Yarbrough started competing in amateur sumo in 1992. He won silver medals in the Sumo World Championships in 1992 and 1994, as well as a bronze medal in 1993. Two years later, after his appearance in

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

, Yarbrough increased his previous weight by 282 lbs. Eventually, Yarbrough reached 704 lbs, which gave him the Guinness World Record for the heaviest living athlete. He quickly became the World Amateur Sumo Champion, leading him to be one of the most famous sumo wrestlers outside Japan. In 2007, he intended to drop from 750 to 550 lbs in order to improve his health, still hoping to participate in the next Sumo World Championships and the US Olympic judo tryouts.

Mixed martial arts career

In 1994, Yarbrough applied to

promotion

and took part in the event

UFC 3 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

representing sumo. He was pitted against the much smaller

Keith Hackney Keith Hackney (born 1958 in Roselle, Illinois) is a retired American mixed martial arts fighter. He competed in three Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments. Biography Hackney started training martial arts at the age 11 by learning Wrestling ...

, a kempo representative, who opened the match by immediately knocking Yarborough down with a palm strike. Emmanuel recovered, pulled Hackney towards his chest and unloaded strikes on his neck, and then literally pushed him out the cage through the door in spectacular fashion. However, when the match was restarted, Hackney knocked Yarbrough again and followed with hand strikes for the TKO. Keith since took the nickname "The Giant Killer" for this victory. Emmanuel's second MMA fight would be in Japan for the promotion

Shooto Shooto is a combat sport and mixed martial arts organization that is governed by the ''Shooto Association'' and the ''International Shooto Commission''. Shooto was originally formed in 1985, first as a particular fighting system and then in 198 ...

. He faced Tatsuo Nakano, a former

shoot-style Shoot wrestling is a combat sport that originated in Japan's professional wrestling circuit of the 1970s. Professional wrestlers of that era attempted to use more realistic or even "full contact" moves in their matches to increase their exciteme ...

whom Yarbrough outsized greatly. This time, the sumo wrestler got advantage of fighting in a ring and cornered Nakano against the turnbuckle, taking dominant position over him. When the contenders were relocated on the center of the ring, Yarbrough just shifted his abdomen over Nakano's head. Unable to get out from under his opponent and being smothered by the weight, the Japanese fighter tapped out, giving Yarbrough his first and only victory. Only months later, Emmanuel fought his third and last bout, for the Japanese promotion Pride Fighting Championships, facing his smallest opponent in the form of Japanese grappler

Daiju Takase is a Japanese mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has fought as a middleweight and welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE Fighting Championship. He is noted for being the second to defeat, and first to finish, former U ...

. Takase avoided engaging Yarbrough and earned a yellow card for inactivity in the second round. Eventually, Takase attempted a takedown, which Yarbrough was able to deny and gain dominant position; however, Takase managed to escape and landed numerous punches to Yarbrough’s head and body, forcing him to submit.

Professional wrestling career

From 1996 to 1997, Yarbrough competed in

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

for Catch Wrestling Association in Germany, where he had gimmick matches based around his sumo career. He took part in a sumo tournament against the entire staff of the promotion, being declared winner after beating everybody except August Smisl and Terminator Mastino. He later won another tournament, beating the likes of

Osamu Nishimura is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer. Nishimura formerly worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and MUGA World Pro Wrestling (MUGA). Professional wrestling career Early years (1991–1998) Nishimura debuted ...

and Jason Neidhart,

Jim Neidhart James Henry Neidhart (February 8, 1955 – August 13, 2018) was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag T ...

's storyline cousin.

Acting

He appeared in a 1997

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film ''

Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi ''Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi'' (English: Mr. and Mrs. Player) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by David Dhawan. The film was a remake of the 1992 Telugu film ''Aa Okkati Adakku''. It stars Akshay Kumar and Juhi Chawla. Some ...

'' which features

action hero

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

and has appeared on several talk shows, as well as in a commercial for

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

. He has also appeared on the HBO drama '' Oz'' as an inmate named Clarence Seroy. In 2000, he played himself in the German wrestling film '' Sumo Bruno''.

Death

On December 21, 2015, Yarbrough died at the age of 51, from a heart attack. His manager said that he had battled all his life with food addiction and "he always said, 'I am a prisoner in my own body.'" By the age of 14 he already weighed 320 pounds, which he attributed to a poor diet of fried foods. In 2007, he was hospitalized for a week due to heart failure, and after seeing an obesity specialist and changing his diet he reduced his weight from over 800 to around 670 pounds.

Mixed martial arts record

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, TKO (submission to punches) ,

Pride 3 The year 1998 is the 2nd year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 1998 had 3 events beginning with, ''Pride 2''. Debut Pride FC fighters The following fighters fought their first ...

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Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

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, TKO (punches) ,

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Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, United States ,

Championships and accomplishments

Sumo

*1995 World Amateur Sumo Champion *1992 1st Sumo World Championships Open Division 2nd Place *1993 2nd Sumo World Championships Open Division 3rd Place *1994 3rd Sumo World Championships Open Division 2nd Place *1996 5th Sumo World Championships Open Division 2nd Place

Collegiate wrestling

*NCAA All American, 1983, 1985 and 1986, Morgan State University

Judo

*Second place, U.S. Nationals 1989

College football

*NCAA Division I-AA All-American offensive tackle, Morgan State University, 1982, 1983

References

External links

Amateur Sumo Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yarbrough, Emmanuel 1964 births 2015 deaths American male mixed martial artists American male professional wrestlers American sumo wrestlers American male judoka African-American mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Sumo American male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers African-American players of American football Heavyweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Rahway, New Jersey Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people