Ura Kazuki

Ura Kazuki (宇良 和輝) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Neyagawa, Osaka.

After winning a gold medal in sumo at the 2013 World Combat Games, he made his professional debut in 2015, wrestling with the Kise stable and he won the jonokuchi division championship in his first tournament.

He competed in sumo at the 2013 World Combat Games at Saint Petersburg, Russia, winning a gold medal in the lightweight division.

In February 2015, he announced his intention to enter the Kise stable as a professional sumo wrestler, and after his first bouts in March, made his tournament debut in the May basho, winning the jonokuchi division.

He again performed well in the July tournament, posting a 7–0 record and losing a playoff for the jonidan division championship.

After going 5–2 in the sandamne division in September, he finished the year with a 7–0 record as a makushita debutante, again losing a division championship playoff in November.

Ura began 2016 with a 6–1 record and another makushita playoff loss in January.

Also going 6–1 in March, he was promoted to jūryō for the next tournament.

In recognition of becoming the first among their alumni to achieve sekitori (the two highest divisions in sumo) rank, he was given a keshō-mawashi by Kwansei Gakuin University.

He finished the May tournament 10–5 and with a 11–4 finish in the July tournament, he entered the September event as the top-ranked jūryō, but he went 6–9, his first losing record, having fractured a bone in his left wrist that required post-tournament surgery.

On his return, he posted a 8–7 record in the November tournament.

He reached the top makuuchi division in March 2017, but a pair of serious injuries led to two extended layoffs, and his rank dropped to the lowest since his debut tournament, and it was three and a half years before he returned to top-level competition.

He has two kinboshi, or gold stars, for defeating a yokozuna.

Ura's highest rank has been komusubi, which he achieved in January 2024.

His unpredictable style has made him a favourite with tournament crowds.

While attending the School of Education, Kwansei Gakuin University, Ura was a member of the sumo club.

His overall 11–4 record in the January 2017 tournament led to his promotion to the top makuuchi division and a rank of maegashira 12.

In March 2017, before a home crowd in Osaka, he achieved a winning record (kachi-koshi) of 8–7, and entered the May 2017 tournament at maegashira 10.

There he scored eleven wins against four losses in this tournament, but did not receive a special prize for his efforts, despite speculation that he would win the Technique Award.

Former yokozuna Kitanofuji, commentating for NHK, expressed his surprise at the omission.

Still, his performance earned him a career-high ranking of maegashira 4 for the July 2017 tournament.

There he got off to a 5–1 start, but then injuries among those ranked above him shifted him to a more challenging schedule, facing the san'yaku, the foremost wrestlers, for the first time.

Though he defeated Harumafuji on Day 9 to earn his first kinboshi or gold star for a win over a yokozuna, he injured his knee in a defeat to ozeki Takayasu on the following day, and he lost four of his remaining five matches to finish with a make-koshi 7–8 record.

Ura withdrew from the summer regional tour that followed the July 2017 tournament, citing damaged right knee ligaments, and indicated he would need a month's rest to recover.

He returned for the September tournament, but exacerbated his injury on the second day and was forced to withdraw, with reports indicating a right knee anterior cruciate ligament injury and a left knee meniscus injury that would require surgery.

With the subsequent extended rehabilitation, he only returned to the competition a year later at the September 2018 contest, having dropped three divisions in the rankings to near the bottom of sandanme.

In this tournament he went 6–1 to stop his slide, and followed that with an undefeated 7–0 record and sandamne division championship in the November 2018 tournament.

This returned him to makushita for the January 2019 contest, but he re-injured his right-knee ligament on a day 10 bout against future top-division man, Hōshōryū, withdrawing from the remainder of the tournament.

He underwent surgery again in late February 2019, requiring another extended recovery period, from which he only returned the following November, having dropped to the bottom of jonidan, his lowest rank since his debut tournament.

He achieved a 6–1 record in this first tournament back, and in the following tournament in January 2020, from the rank of jonidan 28, an undefeated 7–0 record and a playoff victory earned Ura the division championship.

Fighting at the rank of sandanme 30 at the March tournament, Ura won his second straight division championship with another perfect 7–0 record and a playoff win.

This result earned him a return to makushita for the July tournament (the May tournament having been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and he extended his winning streak to 18 matches before finishing at 6–1 and earning a spot in the upper ranks of makushita, where another 6–1 in September elevated him back to jūryō after 15 tournaments in lower divisions.

He is only the second former top division wrestler after Terunofuji to fall as far as jonidan and make a return to jūryō, earning 9–6 and 10–5 records on his first two tournaments back in November 2020 and January 2021, respectively.

In the March 2021 tournament he reached 6–2 on Day 8 after a win over another fan favorite, Enhō, a highly-anticipated first match between the two in professional sumo, but a minor injury Ura suffered in the contest forced his withdrawal from the next two days of the tournament, before returning to gain 4 additional wins.

Ura won the jūryō championship in May 2021 with a 12–3 record, ensuring his return to makuuchi after 21 tournaments away.

He now holds the record for the lowest rank reached before a successful makuuchi return (jonidan 106 West).

Ura began the July 2021 tournament ranked at maegashira 13, and after a 10–5 record rose to maegashira 6 for September.

In a tournament that included a pairing that matched him against fellow top division returnee and newly-promoted yokozuna Terunofuji, he finished 7-8.

He then opened the November tournament one rank lower at maegashira 7.

In this tournament he produced a 10–5 record and won his first special prize, for Technique, and as a consequence surpassing his pre-injury highest rank, opening the January 2022 tournament at maegashira 2 and again achieving a winning record of 8–7.