A 12-man sumo tournament featuring wrestlers who outweigh their rivals by as much as 150 pounds is coming to Caribe Royale Orlando on November 21, and a hometown MMA fighter will be stepping into the ring against them. Pro Era V marks the latest stop for World Elite Sumo, a league attempting to turn the ancient Japanese sport into American fight-night spectacle, and it's bringing a mix of former Grand Sumo professionals, combat-sports crossover stars, and at least one Orlando native to Central Florida.
The tournament will feature an open-weight field of 12 competitors, with World Elite Sumo planning to announce the remaining nine fighters later, according to WFTV. Tickets for the event are being sold through VBO Tickets, per the same report. World Elite Sumo was founded by Abdelrahman “Sandstorm” Shalan, a former top-division sumo wrestler who made history in November 2013 as the first professional sumo wrestler from the African continent to reach Japan's top Makuuchi division, competing under the ring name Ōsunaarashi Kintarō and reaching Maegashira 1 before retiring in 2018, according to Wikipedia. Shalan defeated two Yokozuna in back-to-back matches during his peak in 2014 before later competing in MMA and launching the league, per the same entry.
Orlando's Own Steps Into the Ring
Representing the host city is Brennen Moorefield, a 31-year-old Orlando-based MMA fighter who was born and raised in the city and trains at Fusion X-Cel Performance, per WFTV's report. Moorefield, who stands 5 feet 10 inches and weighs 230 pounds, won his first three MMA bouts by first-round knockout before transitioning to sumo. He previously defeated an opponent who outweighed him by 150 pounds, according to organizers cited by Orlando Shine, which reported that Moorefield entered his first sumo event weighing 230 pounds against that much larger rival.
Moorefield's path to sumo runs through high school football and wrestling, followed by training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Orlando Shine notes. That background in both grappling and striking makes him something of an outlier in a tournament otherwise stacked with imported sumo pedigree and crossover combat stars — though how his quick push-out instincts from the cage translate to sumo's distinct dynamics remains to be seen once he's in the ring.
The Reigning Champion and the Slap Fighter
The tournament's headliner is Hidenoumi “the Iron Wall” Takuya, a 34-year-old Japanese competitor who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 350 pounds, per WFTV. Before joining World Elite Sumo, Hidenoumi spent 14 years in Japan's Grand Sumo circuit with Kise stable, reaching a career-high rank of Maegashira 6 in May 2021 before retiring in March 2026 and holding his formal topknot-cutting ceremony at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan earlier this month, according to Wikipedia. He also won a Jūryō division championship during his professional career in Japan, the same entry notes.
Hidenoumi arrives in Orlando as the reigning World Elite Sumo champion, having defeated three opponents at the league's September 26 tournament in Santa Cruz, California, going undefeated and capping the run with a win over founder Abdelrahman Shalan in the final, according to Orlando Shine. The Santa Cruz event left Hidenoumi as the league's reigning tournament champion, per the same report.
Also on the card is Makini “Big Mak” Manu, a 32-year-old competitor standing 6 feet tall and weighing 400 pounds, according to WFTV. A former professional football player, Manu holds the No. 1 ranking in the Super Heavyweight division of Dana White's Power Slap league, where he has a 6-1 record, per Power Slap. Manu made his professional sumo debut at the September tournament and won his opening matchup against a competitor weighing nearly 500 pounds, WFTV reported.
How the Format Works
Every matchup at Pro Era V will use a best-of-three format, and the event will include live taiko drumming and full wrestler entrances, according to WFTV. To adapt the 2,000-year-old Japanese sport for Western audiences, World Elite Sumo adds shorts to wrestlers' attire alongside the traditional mawashi loincloth and uses a best-of-three structure, according to Santa Cruz Local.
The league's bracket mechanics include a wildcard system: in a 12-man field, two top-performing losing fighters from the opening round get to re-enter the competition during the eight-man quarterfinal stage, per News 12 New Jersey. From there, six opening-round winners plus two wildcards advance into single-elimination quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds, the station reported. World Elite Sumo is described by organizers as the first professional sumo league based outside Japan, according to WFTV.
Orlando's Growing Combat-Sports Footprint
Pro Era V will take place at Caribe Royale Orlando.
The November 21 Orlando event follows World Elite Sumo's September 26 tournament in Santa Cruz, California; a Seattle stop is also planned, according to World Elite Sumo. The league has also held an earlier event in Newark.
