World Elite Sumo bringing sumo wrestling to California with a one-night tournament on Sept. 26
· Yahoo Sports
Sumo wrestling is coming to California.
World Elite Sumo, the first independent professional sumo wrestling league established outside of Japan’s traditional sumo universe in over 800 years, announced that its next live event will take place at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz on Saturday, Sept. 26.
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The event will be headlined by a one-night, 12-man, open weight tournament. One of the competitors will be World Elite Sumo CEO Abdelrahman “Sandstorm” Shalan,
“The city of Santa Cruz is a phenomenal destination for martial arts and people who have historically been open to different cultures, so we are very excited to bring World Elite Sumo to this town and are grateful for to partnership with Kaiser Permanente Arena,” said Shalan, a 6-foot-3, 360-pound native of Egypt and the first professional sumo wrestler in history from The Middle East and African regions of the world.
Four other athletes – Asahisho Kota from Japan; “Rui Junior” representing Brazil; Soslan “Big Bear” Gagloev representing Russia; and Giorgi Kvirchishvilli representing Georgia--were also announced as participants in the tournament.
“Host to basketball, mixed martial arts competition, and concerts, Kaiser Permanente Arena continues to prove its versatility, and we couldn’t be more excited to bring World Elite Sumo to Santa Cruz on Saturday, Sept. 26,” said Santa Cruz Warriors Chief Operating Officer David Kao. “This is a historic first for our venue and our local community. World Elite Sumo puts on an unbelievable show with world-class athletes, live taiko drumming, and electric energy. We look forward to introducing sumo wrestling to our fans and welcoming another packed house this fall.”
All World Elite Sumo tournament matches will be contested in a best-of-three format, aimed at increasing competitive stakes and maintaining a rapid, exciting pace of action.
Priced from $50, tickets for the World Elite Sumo event are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com. Doors for the World Elite Sumo event at Kaiser Permanente Arena will open at 6:00 p.m. local time on Sept. 26, and the event will begin at 7:00 p.m.
For more information on World Elite Sumo, log onto www.worldelitesumo.com.