spoilers in comments....
Shishi's matches are almost never interesting. Maybe only when an opponent finds a way to use Shishi's brute force against Shishi.
i can't appreciate his matches ๐คท
this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2026
10 points (100.0% liked)
Sumo
167 readers
16 users here now
Sumo community
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
He never wins in an interesting way (i.e. like Ura or Aonishiki often do) and he never exhibits breathtaking mastery (like Onosato at his best does). But as someone who cheers for him, it's never obvious what's going to happen. He could win, or he could end up in the third row of the audience, or both.
Regarding Shishi:
- I've been a fan of the guy since I started watching sumo. He kinda reminds me of my late uncle. Plus, his irl name is Serhii which I'm guessin is Ukrainian for Sergio!
- He's never been first-tier sanyaku material, but last year I read a rumor that he was struggling with a leg injury, so he wasn't doing so well and just barely stayed in Makuuchi at the very lowest spot.
- Anyway looks like his leg's finally healed up HOWEVER.... For most of this tourney he's only been fighting lower-tier fighters. If you look at his performance this tourney , for the first 9 days he only fought lower-maegashira opponents, and lost against the 2 guys who are now 9-3. He did win against Fujinokawa (M7, 7-3 at the time), but the size difference there is significant, and it involved a shove at the end that kinda showed that Shishi didn't really feel in control of the bout.
- Given all that, I'm surprised that Abi henka'd against him in day 11. I was expecting Abi to win on FTF skill. Maybe Abi didn't want to risk chance or injury. (it came back to bite Abi when he tried it again the next day tho lol.)
- Anyway, I gotta say Shishi's win against Oho on day 12 was legit. Shishi almost had it at first, then it slipped away, then Shishi got it back admittedly with a bit of luck. It still wasn't graceful, but it was effective, and Oho is a legit first-tier sanyaku. Good on ya, bro!
- So now Shishi's at 9-3 and tomorrow he's coming up against Kirishima a first-tier sekiwake who's also 9-3. I'm still cheerin for Shishi, but I gotta tell ya.... I just hope he does a good job and doesn't get hurt.
- Final thought: this time last year, Shishi's down in Juryo. Day 12. He fights an up-and-coming Aonishiki. Guess who wins . And Shishi ends up winning Juryo. So who knows, maybe he's got it in him!??
Happy to see Shishi getting appreciation. I admit I don't enjoy watching him wrestling. He seems to be lacking in technique both in the pure sense, and in the sense of having the bare technical skill to use his strength and size. Like he's uncomfortable with his own body.
To the point where if he wins, it seems like a fluke almost every time.
Now clearly my impression is wrong and flawed. You don't get to his level by being lucky. But it's still so awkward to see him wrestle.
So, my hypothesis is that Shishi's big and strong and that's what he bases his style on. He's like the opposite of Ura. (ofc Ura is strong, but you know what I mean...) I think that's what's why Shishi was in so much trouble when he hurt his leg: he has no plan B. His only plan is to go there and be big and strong, and of course he's practiced all his techniques diligently. And that's got him to the top league which is pretty impressive, but the best wrestlers in Makuuchi have a little "something else" (imaginativeness, agility, ability to think two steps ahead?) which is why Shishi plateaus mid-maegashira. Or maybe it was just the leg injury. Maybe he's learning what he needs to. Maybe I'm wrong about this. idk, we'll find out.
Love this kind of deep dive stuff. And regarding Shishi not being graceful, it's often amazing how graceful some of these giants can be, but yeah, Shishi is not normally one of the graceful ones.
Funny thing is, Onosato's about the same height as Shishi and 27 kg heavier, but he's still so much more graceful.