Henry Armstrong Miller (born July 16, 1969) is a former

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 ...

wrestler, raised in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri, who competed under the ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Edo period, where they were used as a means to attract customers and hide the identities of the '' rikishi''. Like standard Japanese names, a ''shikona'' ...

'' . The first wrestler from the

US mainland The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawai ...

to reach the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' division, he made his professional debut in 1988 and reached a highest rank of ''

maegashira , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' 12 before retiring in 2003. He last competed in MMA as recently as 2013, losing to

Kazuhiro Nakamura Kazuhiro Nakamura ( , born July 16, 1979) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who competed as a Middleweight in DREAM, and is a former DEEP Middleweight Champion. He fought out of the Yoshida Dojo and also competed in the Pride Fighti ...

Early life

He was born in

Tachikawa, Tokyo file:Autumn colors in Showa memorial park.jpg, 250px, Showa Memorial Park is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 184,383 in 93,428 households, and a populat ...

, Japan, the son of a Japanese mother and African-American father. He was born on the same day that the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, a ...

lunar mission left Earth and his middle name was given to him by his father in honor of

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

. He lived on

Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 p ...

until the age of six, when he moved with his family to St Louis, Missouri. He grew up in

Ferguson Ferguson may refer to: Places Canada * Ferguson Avenue (Hamilton, Ontario) * Ferguson, British Columbia * Mount Ferguson (Ontario), a mountain in Temagami, Ontario United States *Ferguson, a meteorite fall in North Carolina * Ferguson, Arkansas ...

. His dream of becoming a professional football player was ended by a knee injury in his senior year of high school, but he had also been

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

since elementary school and he had qualified for the state championships. After graduating in 1987 he returned to Japan to try professional sumo.

Sumo career

He joined the Tomozuna stable of wrestlers, also the home of future '' ozeki'' Kaio. He was given the ''

'' of Sentoryū, meaning "fighting war dragon" but also a

play on words Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, pho ...

for his hometown of St. Louis. He was relatively small at 174 cm and 94 kg when he made his debut in July 1988. He won the '' yusho'' or tournament championship in his first official tournament in the ''

jonokuchi Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

'' division in September 1988, defeating a fellow American, Shinnishiki from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. In 1991 he reached ''

makushita Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

'' for the first time but injury problems meant he did not establish himself in the division until 1993. In November 1994 he became a ''

sekitori A ''sekitori'' (関取) is a '' rikishi'' (力士, sumo wrestler) who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: '' makuuchi'' and '' jūryō''. The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fr ...

'' for the first time but lasted only two tournaments in the ''

jūryō Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division before being demoted. It took Sentoryū more than four years of hard toil in the unsalaried ''makushita'' division (including a change of name to Kaishinzan in 1997) before he could win promotion back to the second division in July 1999, after an unbeaten 7-0 ''yusho'' in May. His final day victory over the former amateur champion Kototamiya (the future ozeki

Kotomitsuki is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Okazaki City. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1999. He reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in November 2000 and won one ''yūshō'' or tournament championship, in Septemb ...

) was regarded as one of the high points of his career. After reverting to the name Sentoryū, a strong 13-2 record in March 2000 sent him to the top of the ''jūryō'' division. With an 8-7 mark in May 2000, he finally achieved his goal of promotion to the top ''

'' division in July. It had taken him 72 tournaments from his professional debut to reach ''makuuchi'', which is the slowest amongst foreign-born wrestlers. Sentoryū came through with a winning record of 8-7 in his debut but was then demoted after only recording a 5-10 score in September 2000. He had to withdraw from the following tournament in November and missed the January 2001 ''basho''. Nevertheless, he managed to hold his own in ''jūryō'' and had one more visit to the top division in January 2002. However, he suffered a serious injury and was unable to compete in the March and May 2002 tournaments, falling all the way back to ''makushita''. He refused to give up and fought his way back to ''sekitori'' status in September 2003, becoming the fifth oldest wrestler to return to ''jūryō'' in the postwar era at 34 years, 1 month. However, another injury convinced him to retire at the end of the year, in the same tournament as Musashimaru. His great fighting spirit, despite all his injuries, won him many admirers. He had spent 20 tournaments as a ''sekitori'', by far the most successful career by anyone from the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawai ...

. He defeated Asashōryū in their only meeting in November 2000, when both were in the ''jūryō'' division. He also had three wins over Kotomitsuki in their four meetings.

Fighting style

Sentoryū favoured pushing and thrusting techniques, winning most of his matches by ''oshi dashi'' (push out), ''hatakikomi'' (slap down) or ''hikiotoshi'' (pull down).

Mixed martial arts and kickboxing career

Since his retirement from sumo, Sentoryū tried his luck at

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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

. He was recommended for

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

in April 2004 by

Chiyotaikai Ryūji Chiyotaikai Ryūji (born April 29, 1976 as Ryūji Hiroshima in Chitose, Hokkaidō), is a Japanese former sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1992 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 1997. He held the second highest rank of '' ...

, who saw

Akebono Taro Akebono is a Japanese word meaning ''dawn'' or the color of the sky at dawn. It may refer to: Science * ''Akebono'' (fly), a fly genus in the family Sciomyzidae or Phaeomyiidae * Akebono (satellite), a magnetosphere observation satellite Ships ...

make such transition a year before. He has six wins and sixteen losses in his 23 fights to date. He styles himself Henry "Sentoryu" Miller. He made an agreement with

World Victory Road World Victory Road (WVR) is a defunct Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) organization which promoted the Sengoku Raiden Championship (SRC) in Japan. The organization was formed in 2007 following the purchase of PRIDE FC by Zuffa. It operated in ...

and fought

Yoshihiro Nakao (born June 25, 1972) is a Japanese semi-retired professional mixed martial artist and former K-1 kickboxer and PRIDE FC fighter who has defeated the likes of Don Frye, Choi Mu-Bae, Jim York, Wesley Correira and Edson Draggo. Nakao is a Wo ...

. On 25 December 2010 he faced Yoichi Babaguchi (former

sekiwake , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

Wakashoyo) in the first ever K-1 kickboxing match between former

. There was an edge to the match because Miller blamed Babaguchi for an injury he sustained in a sumo bout between the two in November 1994 (his debut juryo tournament). Miller won the match in the first round.

Sumo career record

Kickboxing record

, - , , Win , Wakashoyo , Survivor: Round 6 ,

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.4 ...

, TKO (3 knockdowns) , align="center", 1 , align="center", 1:09 , 1-2 , , - , , Loss , Tsutomu Takahagi , Big Bang 2: The Way to Unification , Japan , TKO (corner stoppage) , align="center", 2 , align="center", 1:09 , 0-2 , , - , , Loss ,

Taiei Kin Kin Taiei ( ko, 김태영, Hanja: ; born July 8, 1970) is a Korean-Japanese light heavyweight karateka, kickboxer and mixed martial artist competing in K-1 and DREAM. He's also a karate instructor and a trainer for professional fighters. His na ...

, K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hong Kong ,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, KO (right high kick) , align="center", 1 , align="center", 1:43 , 0-1 , 2007 Hong Kong Grand Prix quarter-final bout. , - , - , colspan=10 , ''Legend'':

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 6-16 (1) ,

, KO (punch) , DEEP: 63 Impact , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:42 ,

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, ...

, Japan , Openweight bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 6-15 (1) ,

Soa Palelei Soa Palelei (born 12 July 1977) is an Australian retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 2002 until 2015, he most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE Fighting Championships. Background Born in 1977, Newc ...

, TKO (punches) , K-Oz Entertainment: Bragging Rights , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 ,

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 6-14 (1) , Shunsuke Inoue , TKO (punches) , HEAT 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:43 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6-13 (1) , Myles Tynanes , TKO (punches) , HEAT 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:29 ,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most p ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6-12 (1) , Takaaki Oban , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Gladiator 23 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 , Hiroshima, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6-11 (1) ,

, TKO (corner stoppage) , HEAT 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:01 ,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6-10 (1) ,

, TKO (punches) , Sengoku Raiden Championships 12 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:27 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6-9 (1) , Kim Min-Soo , KO (punches and knees) , The Khan 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:12 ,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, South Korea , , - , Loss , align=center, 5-9 (1) , Lee Chang-Seob , TKO (punches) , HEAT 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:53 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 5-8 (1) , Cristiano Kaminishi , TKO (punches) , HEAT 11 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:36 ,

, Japan , Openweight bout. , - , NC , align=center, 5-7 (1) , Cristiano Kaminishi , No contest (groin strike) , HEAT 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:54 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 5-7 , Ryuta Noji , KO (punches) , HEAT 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:14 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 4-7 , Junpei Hamada , KO (punches) , HEAT 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:52 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 3-7 , Cristiano Kaminishi , KO (head kick) , DEEP: 29 Impact , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:00 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 3-6 , Kim Ji-Fun , KO (punch) , HEAT 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:58 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 2-6 , Mostapha al-Turk , TKO (punches) , Cage Rage 18 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 ,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2-5 , Seiji Ogura , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Pancrase , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:37 ,

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 ...

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 1-5 , Robert Berry , TKO (punches) , Cage Rage 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:06 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 1-4 ,

Zuluzinho Wágner da Conceição Martins (born May 19, 1978), better known as Zuluzinho (), is a Brazilian vale tudo fighter and mixed martial artist. He is the son of Vale Tudo legend Casemiro Nascimento Martins ("Rei Zulu"). Wagner was raised by his gran ...

, TKO (knees) ,

PRIDE 30 The year 2005 is the 9th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2005 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 29 - Fists of Fire''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The ...

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Saitama, Saitama is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lyi ...

, Japan ,

Super Heavyweight Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and competitive bodybuilding. Boxing In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Introduced for ...

bout. , - , Loss , align=center, 1-3 , James Thompson , KO (punch) , PRIDE Bushido 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:21 ,

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Makoto Takimoto is a retired Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist from Nihon University. He won a gold medal at the Half Middleweight category of the 2000 Summer Olympics. __TOC__ Judo career Takimoto was relatively unknown entering the 2000 ...

, Decision (unanimous) ,

PRIDE Shockwave 2004 The year 2004 is the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The followi ...

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PRIDE Bushido 5 The year 2004 is the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The followi ...

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Giant Silva Paulo César da Silva (born July 21, 1962) is a Brazilian former national basketball player for the Brazilian national basketball team and later mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Giant Silva. He stands ...

, Submission (kimura) ,

PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 The year 2004 is the 8th year in the history of the Pride Fighting Championships, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Japan. 2004 had 10 events beginning with, ''Pride 27 - Inferno''. Title fights Debut Pride FC fighters The followi ...

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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sentoryu, Henri 1969 births Living people People from Tachikawa American male mixed martial artists American male kickboxers American sumo wrestlers American sportspeople of Japanese descent Japanese male kickboxers Japanese male mixed martial artists Japanese people of African-American descent Japanese sumo wrestlers Kickboxers from Missouri Mixed martial artists from Missouri Sportspeople from St. Louis Sportspeople from Tokyo Sumo people from Tokyo Heavyweight kickboxers Super heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Sumo Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing