160 kg353 lb
A top-division sumo wrestler weighs about 160 kg (353 lb) on average. That is a division average: individual wrestlers range from under 100 kg to well over 190 kg, since sumo has no weight classes. The heaviest wrestler ever, Ōrora, reached 292.6 kg (645 lb) in 2018.
| Heaviest ever, ŌroraPeak in 2018; highest rank makushita 43 | 293 kg645 lb |
|---|---|
| Heaviest top-division wrestler, KonishikiŌzeki, weighed in March 1996 | 285 kg628 lb |
| Heaviest in the top division, late 2025Atamifuji | 192 kg423 lb |
| Top-division average156.9 kg in September 2020; record 166 kg in January 2019 | 160 kg353 lb |
| Lightest top-division wrestler, 2019Enhō, 167 cm tall | 99 kg218 lb |
| Minimum to enter sumoRule as of 2019, loosened in 2023 | 67 kg148 lb |
Wrestlers are weighed and measured before each tournament, and the average for the 42 men in the top division, called makuuchi, has sat between about 155 and 166 kg for years. At the September 2020 tournament it was 156.9 kg (346 lb) at an average height of 184 cm, and the record of 166 kg (366 lb) was set in January 2019.
The spread around that average is wide. In late 2025 the heaviest man in the division was Atamifuji at 192 kg (423 lb), with Ōnosato, 192 cm tall, close behind at 191 kg. Lighter men such as Wakatakakage were listed at 137 kg (302 lb), a gap of 55 kg inside one division.
In September 1953 the top-division average was 114.5 kg (252 lb) at 177 cm. It reached 125 kg by 1969 and passed 150 kg by 1991. Between 1953 and 2020 wrestlers grew about 7 cm taller on average but more than 40 kg heavier, so most of the gain is bulk, not height.
Very large wrestlers did exist before. The Edo-period ōzeki Raiden Tameemon (1767 to 1825) reportedly stood 197 cm and weighed 169 kg, which would still be above average today. What changed is that such sizes became normal rather than exceptional.
The extra weight shows in how bouts are won. In 1978, wins by yorikiri, a belt-grip force-out, outnumbered wins by oshidashi, a push-out, 528 to 199. By 2020 the two were almost even at 336 to 350, as heavier wrestlers lean more on pushing.
Professional sumo sorts wrestlers by rank only, so anyone can be drawn against anyone in his division. A wrestler can face an opponent twice his own weight, and small, quick wrestlers such as Mainoumi in the 1990s and Enhō more recently became crowd favourites by beating far bigger men.
When Enhō reached the top division in May 2019 he was the only man on the ranking sheet listed under 100 kg, about 50 kg lighter and 15 cm shorter than the division average. Getting in at all needs little size: as of 2019 the entry minimum was 167 cm and 67 kg (148 lb), and since 2023 candidates below that can qualify through a physical fitness test.
For more than 20 years the record belonged to the Hawaiian-born ōzeki Konishiki, who weighed 285 kg (628 lb) in March 1996. He was the first wrestler born outside Japan to reach ōzeki, sumo’s second-highest rank, and remains the heaviest man ever to compete in the top division.
The Russian wrestler Ōrora (born Anatoliy Mikhakhanov) passed Konishiki’s mark in August 2017 and peaked at 292.6 kg (645 lb) before retiring in September 2018. He stood 190 cm and never rose above makushita, the third division. The heaviest grand champions, or yokozuna, were Musashimaru at 237 kg and Akebono at 236 kg.
A top-division sumo wrestler averages about 353 lb (160 kg). The heaviest ever, Ōrora, reached 645 lb (292.6 kg).
Ōrora, a Russian wrestler who weighed 292.6 kg (645 lb) in 2018. The heaviest in the top division was the ōzeki Konishiki at 285 kg (628 lb) in 1996.
They eat chankonabe, a protein-heavy stew of chicken, fish, tofu or beef with vegetables, and add five to ten bowls of rice per meal along with beer.
While active they often have near-normal blood sugar and cholesterol, and they store most fat under the skin rather than around the organs. The problems tend to come later: sumo wrestlers have a life expectancy of around 65, roughly 15 years below the average Japanese man.
As of 2019 the Japan Sumo Association asked for at least 167 cm and 67 kg (148 lb). In 2023 it loosened this so that smaller candidates can enter by passing a physical fitness test.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
