Daishōchi Kenta
大翔地 健太
Byamba, 2010
Personal information
BornUlambayar Byambajav
(1984-11-24)November 24, 1984
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian People's Republic
Died28 February 2020(2020-02-28) (aged 35)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Height1.84 m (6 ft 12 in)
Weight152 kg (335 lb)
Career
StableShibatayama
Record95-66-14
DebutJuly 2001
Highest rankMakushita 15 (March 2005)
RetiredSeptember 2005
Championships1 (Jonokuchi)
* Up to date as of May 2013.
Medal record
Men's Sumo
Representing  Mongolia
World Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Kaohsiung Open
World Combat Games
Gold medal – first place 2013 St. Petersburg Heavyweight
Bronze medal – third place 2013 St. Petersburg Open
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Beijing Open

Ulambayar Byambajav (Mongolian: Уламбаярын Бямбажав, romanized: Ulambajarín Bjambazsav; 24 November 1984 – 28 February 2020), known professionally as Byamba, was a Mongolian sumo wrestler and entertainer. He began his professional career in Japan in 2001 under the name Daishōchi Kenta (Japanese: 大翔地 健太); tiring of the lifestyle, he retired from professional sumo wrestling in 2005. As an amateur, he won the Sumo World Championships twice in 2006 and 2007 and was a gold medalist at the 2009 World Games and 2013 World Combat Games. He also appeared on the comedy show Impractical Jokers. He died after a protracted illness in a Los Angeles hospital in February 2020.[1]

Sumo career

He was born in Ulaanbaatar, and took up Mongolian wrestling at the age of 9, but he preferred playing basketball. He won junior titles in wrestling, judo and sambo.[2] He was recruited as a professional sumo wrestler (rikishi) by former yokozuna Onokuni who was on a visit to Mongolia.[1] He competed under the shikona of Daishōchi Kenta. He was a member of Shibatayama stable from July 2001 until September 2005, reaching a highest rank of makushita 15.[3] However, tiring of the lifestyle, he quit at age 20 and as well as an amateur sumo career he also featured in film and television roles in Hollywood, and many commercials.[4] He won the Sumo World Championships in 2006 and 2007. He won the US Sumo Open Championship held in California for eight consecutive years, from 2007 to 2014. His overall record at the US Sumo Open was 110 wins and 7 losses.[5]

US film and television appearances

Upon retiring from professional sumo, Byambajav moved to Los Angeles. Having limited English, he initially worked in menial jobs and manual labour.[6] However, he was able to gain a role as a sumo wrestler in the film Ocean's Thirteen (2007), through the Californian Sumo Association.[2] In 2010, he spent 1 week in the house of Gran Hermano 12 (Big Brother Spain). In February 2013, he was featured on the American television show King of the Nerds. In April 2014, he appeared as the celebrity special guest on the CW comedy improv series Whose Line Is It Anyway?. In 2014 he was featured in One Direction's video for "Steal My Girl" alongside fellow sumo wrestler Yamamotoyama Ryūta. In May 2015, he appeared alongside Yamamotoyama in an episode of The Bachelorette.

Byamba appeared in the April 16, 2015, episode of the TruTV series Impractical Jokers, titled "Pseudo-Sumo". The loser, Joe, was told he was going to be in a baby commercial, and was then surprised by Byamba. Byamba appeared again on Impractical Jokers, on August 16, 2018, in an episode titled "Bull Shiatsu", in which Joe lost again. This time Joe was dressed inside a home-made massage chair, manually massages people at a mall. The punishment didn't end until he massages his former adversary, Byamba. In 2016, he appeared as a figure skating sumo wrestler in a television advertisement for GEICO.[7] In 2017 he promoted a new variety of mandarin orange called the "Sumo Citrus" in Lindsay, California.[8] He featured as a model for the Subaru car company.

Personal life and death

Byamba died in a Los Angeles hospital on February 28, 2020, after a protracted illness.[1][9] He was married, with one child.[6]

Professional sumo career record

Daishōchi Kenta[3]
Year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo
March
Haru basho, Osaka
May
Natsu basho, Tokyo
July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya
September
Aki basho, Tokyo
November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2001 x x x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #46
61PPP
Champion

 
East Jonidan #73
61
 
2002 West Jonidan #3
52
 
East Sandanme #68
34
 
East Sandanme #87
43
 
West Sandanme #69
52
 
East Sandanme #39
43
 
West Sandanme #23
34
 
2003 West Sandanme #39
34
 
West Sandanme #57
61
 
East Sandanme #6
34
 
West Sandanme #16
61
 
East Makushita #37
52
 
West Makushita #26
16
 
2004 West Makushita #48
61
 
East Makushita #20
25
 
West Makushita #37
25
 
East Sandanme #2
61
 
West Makushita #29
43
 
East Makushita #24
43
 
2005 East Makushita #19
43
 
West Makushita #15
34
 
West Makushita #20
43
 
West Makushita #15
Sat out due to injury
007
West Makushita #55
Retired
007
x
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions

Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: =Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: Makuuchi Jūryō Makushita Sandanme Jonidan Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna Ōzeki Sekiwake Komusubi Maegashira

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Sumo Byama". Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Meet Byamba: An International Sumo Star Spreading the Sport Around the World". Culture Trip. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  3. 1 2 "Daishochi Kenta Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  4. Gunning, John (21 March 2019). "Sumo 101: Could-have-beens". The Japan Times. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  5. "Our Sumo Stars". USA Sumo. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 Gunning, John (5 March 2020). "Legend Byamba deserves lot of credit for raising global profile of sumo". Japan Times. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. "GEICO "Sumo Wrestler Figure Skating" Commercial".
  8. "Valley citrus company enlists champion sumo wrestler to help with marketing". ABC 30 Action News. September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  9. "Legend Byamba deserves lot of credit for raising global profile of sumo". The Japan Times. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
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