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Sentoryū Henri
American martial artist

Sentoryū Henri

The basics

Quick Facts

Intro
American martial artist
A.K.A.
Henry Armstrong Miller
Work field
Gender
Male
Place of birth
Tachikawa City
Age
55 years
The details (from wikipedia)

Biography

Henry Armstrong Miller (born July 16, 1969) is a former sumo wrestler, raised in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, who competed under the shikona Sentoryū Henri (戦闘竜 扁利). The first wrestler from the US mainland to reach the top makuuchi division, he made his professional debut in 1988 and reached a highest rank of maegashira 12 before retiring in 2003. He is currently a mixed martial artist.

Early life

He was born in Tachikawa, Japan, the son of an African-American father and Japanese mother. He was born on the same day that the Apollo 11 lunar mission left Earth and his middle name was given to him by his father in honor of Neil Armstrong. He lived on Yokota Air Base until the age of six, when he moved with his family to St Louis, Missouri. He grew up in Ferguson. His dream of becoming a professional football player was ended by a knee injury in his senior year of high school, but he had also been wrestling since elementary school and he had qualified for the state championships. After graduating in 1987 he returned to Japan to try professional sumo.

Sumo career

He joined the Tomozuna stable of wrestlers, also the home of future ozeki Kaio. He was given the shikona of Sentoryū, meaning "fighting war dragon" but also a play on words for his hometown of St Louis. He was relatively small at 174 cm and 94 kg when he made his debut in July 1988. He won the yusho or tournament championship in his first official tournament in the jonidan division in September 1988, defeating a fellow American, Shinnishiki from Los Angeles. In 1991 he reached makushita for the first time but injury problems meant he did not establish himself in the division until 1993. In November 1994 he became a sekitori for the first time but lasted only two tournaments in the jūryō division before being demoted.

It took Sentoryū more than four years of hard toil in the unsalaried makushita division (including a change of name to Kaishinzan in 1997) before he could win promotion back to the second division in July 1999, after an unbeaten 7-0 yusho in May. His final day victory over the former amateur champion Kototamiya (the future ozeki Kotomitsuki) was regarded as one of the high points of his career.

After reverting to the name Sentoryū, a strong 13-2 record in March 2000 sent him to the top of the jūryō division. With an 8-7 mark in May 2000, he finally achieved his goal of promotion to the top makuuchi division in July. It had taken him 72 tournaments from his professional debut to reach makuuchi, which is the slowest amongst foreign-born wrestlers.

Sentoryū came through with a winning record of 8-7 in his debut but was then demoted after only recording a 5-10 score in September 2000. He had to withdraw from the following tournament in November and missed the January 2001 basho. Nevertheless, he managed to hold his own in jūryō, and had one more visit to the top division in January 2002. However, he suffered a serious injury and was unable to compete in the March and May 2002 tournaments, falling all the way back to makushita. He refused to give up and fought his way back to sekitori status in September 2003, becoming the fifth oldest wrestler to return to jūryō in the postwar era at 34 years, 1 month. However, another injury convinced him to retire at the end of the year, in the same tournament as Musashimaru. His great fighting spirit, despite all his injuries, won him many admirers.

He defeated Asashōryū in their only meeting in November 2000, when both were in the jūryō division. He also had three wins over Kotomitsuki in their four meetings.

Fighting style

Sentoryū favoured pushing and thrusting techniques, winning most of his matches by oshi dashi (push out), hatakikomi (slap down) or hikiotoshi (pull down).

Mixed martial arts career

Since his retirement from sumo, Sentoryū has tried his luck at mixed martial arts. His debut was for PRIDE in April 2004. He has six wins and sixteen losses in his 23 fights to date. He styles himself Henry "Sentoryu" Miller. He made an agreement with World Victory Road and fought Yoshihiro Nakao. On 25 December 2010 he faced Yoichi Babaguchi (former sekiwake Wakashoyo) in the first ever K1 fight between former sekitori. There was an edge to the match because Miller blamed Babaguchi for an injury he sustained in a sumo bout between the two in November 1994 (his debut juryo tournament). Miller won the match in the first round.

Sumo career record

Sentoryū Henri
Year in sumoJanuary
Hatsu basho, Tokyo
March
Haru basho, Osaka
May
Natsu basho, Tokyo
July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya
September
Aki basho, Tokyo
November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1988xxx(Maezumo)East Jonokuchi #51
6–1–PPP
 
West Jonidan #119
4–3
 
1989West Jonidan #89
4–3
 
West Jonidan #59
5–2
 
East Jonidan #22
2–5
 
East Jonidan #56
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
West Jonidan #126
6–1
 
East Jonidan #52
3–1–3
 
1990West Jonidan #72
5–2
 
East Jonidan #25
6–1
 
West Sandanme #66
6–1
 
East Sandanme #18
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
East Sandanme #78
5–2
 
East Sandanme #44
6–1
 
1991East Makushita #60
1–2–4
 
West Sandanme #35
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
West Sandanme #35
6–1
 
East Makushita #55
3–3–1
 
East Sandanme #6
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
East Sandanme #6
2–5
 
1992West Sandanme #34
2–5
 
West Sandanme #61
5–2
 
West Sandanme #30
4–3
 
West Sandanme #18
3–4
 
East Sandanme #33
3–4
 
East Sandanme #51
6–1
 
1993East Sandanme #5
6–1
 
West Makushita #34
4–3
 
West Makushita #23
4–3
 
West Makushita #16
4–3
 
East Makushita #12
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
East Makushita #12
5–2
 
1994West Makushita #7
2–5
 
East Makushita #22
6–1
 
East Makushita #9
5–2
 
West Makushita #4
5–2
 
East Makushita #2
6–1
 
East Jūryō #12
9–6
 
1995East Jūryō #9
6–9
 
East Makushita #1
3–4
 
West Makushita #5
4–3
 
East Makushita #3
4–3
 
West Makushita #2
0–2–5
 
East Makushita #37
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
1996East Makushita #37
5–2
 
East Makushita #21
2–5
 
West Makushita #40
4–3
 
East Makushita #31
6–1–P
 
East Makushita #13
5–2
 
East Makushita #5
3–4
 
1997East Makushita #8
6–1
 
East Makushita #2
2–5
 
East Makushita #14
2–5
 
West Makushita #29
6–1
 
West Makushita #12
4–3
 
East Makushita #10
6–1
 
1998East Makushita #2
2–5
 
West Makushita #13
1–6
 
West Makushita #36
6–1
 
East Makushita #16
4–3
 
West Makushita #12
4–3
 
East Makushita #8
3–4
 
1999East Makushita #14
4–3
 
West Makushita #11
4–3
 
East Makushita #9
7–0
 
West Jūryō #11
8–7
 
West Jūryō #10
6–9
 
West Jūryō #13
9–6
 
2000West Jūryō #9
7–8
 
East Jūryō #11
13–2–P
 
East Jūryō #2
8–7
 
East Maegashira #13
8–7
 
West Maegashira #12
5–10
 
East Jūryō #1
3–5–7
 
2001West Jūryō #9
Sat out due to injury
0–0–15
West Jūryō #9
9–6
 
West Jūryō #4
7–8
 
East Jūryō #6
9–6–PP
 
West Jūryō #2
7–8
 
West Jūryō #3
8–7
 
2002East Maegashira #15
6–9
 
East Jūryō #3
Sat out due to injury
0–0–15
East Makushita #1
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7
East Makushita #41
5–2
 
East Makushita #26
2–5
 
West Makushita #44
6–1
 
2003West Makushita #18
5–2
 
East Makushita #9
4–3
 
West Makushita #6
4–3
 
West Makushita #3
5–2
 
West Jūryō #11
4–11
 
West Makushita #5
Retired
2–5–0
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions

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

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record

Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest

Mixed martial arts record

Res.RecordOpponentMethodEventDateRoundTimeLocationNotes
Loss6-16 (1)Japan Kazuhiro NakamuraKO (punch)DEEP: 63 ImpactAugust 25, 201314:42Tokyo, Japan
Loss6-15 (1)Australia Soa PaleleiTKO (punches)K-Oz Entertainment: Bragging RightsSeptember 3, 201211:26Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Loss6-14 (1)Japan Shunsuke InoueTKO (punches)HEAT 20December 17, 201111:43Tokyo, Japan
Loss6-13 (1)United States Myles TynanesTKO (punches)HEAT 19September 25, 201113:29Nagoya, Japan
Loss6-12 (1)Japan Takaaki ObanSubmission (rear-naked choke)Gladiator 23September 3, 201111:40Hiroshima, Japan
Loss6-11 (1)Japan Taiei KinTKO (corner stoppage)HEAT 16November 6, 201014:01Osaka, Japan
Loss6-10 (1)Japan Yoshihiro NakaoTKO (punches)Sengoku Raiden Championships 12March 7, 201023:27Tokyo, Japan
Win6-9 (1)South Korea Kim Min-SooKO (punches and knees)The Khan 2November 27, 200911:12Seoul, South Korea
Loss5-9 (1)South Korea Lee Chang-SeobTKO (punches)HEAT 12November 1, 200910:53Nagoya, Japan
Loss5-8 (1)Brazil Cristiano KaminishiTKO (punches)HEAT 11September 26, 200933:36Tokyo, Japan
NC5-7 (1)Brazil Cristiano KaminishiNo contest (groin strike)HEAT 10July 18, 200910:54Tokyo, Japan
Win5-7Japan Ryuta NojiKO (punches)HEAT 9March 28, 200911:14Nagoya, Japan
Win4-7Japan Junpei HamadaKO (punches)HEAT 8December 14, 200810:52Tokyo, Japan
Loss3-7Brazil Cristiano KaminishiKO (head kick)DEEP: 29 ImpactApril 13, 200714:00Tokyo, Japan
Win3-6South Korea Kim Ji-FunKO (punch)HEAT 3March 23, 200714:58Nagoya, Japan
Loss2-6Lebanon Mostapha al-TurkTKO (punches)Cage Rage 18August 27, 200610:56London, England
Win2-5Japan Seiji OguraSubmission (rear-naked choke)PancraseAugust 27, 200611:37Yokohama, Japan
Loss1-5England Robert BerryTKO (punches)Cage Rage 17July 1, 200611:06London, England
Loss1-4Brazil ZuluzinhoTKO (knees)Pride 30October 23, 200511:31Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Loss1-3England James ThompsonKO (punch)Pride Bushido 8July 17, 200511:21Nagoya, Japan
Loss1-2Japan Makoto TakimotoDecision (unanimous)Pride Shockwave 2004December 31, 200435:00Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Win1-1Australia Mal FokiKO (punches)Pride Bushido 5October 14, 200410:21Osaka, Japan
Loss0-1Brazil Giant SilvaSubmission (kimura)Pride Total Elimination 2004April 25, 200414:04Saitama, Saitama, Japan2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix opening round

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.
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