Genki Sudo is a member of the upper house of Japan’s bicameral legislature. Western folks like myself might have unwittingly encountered him via these 2000s music videos of his music group World Order.
Before all this, Sudo was a professional mixed martial artist. He fought in several promotions, but in every arena he introduced himself idiosyncratically. Sudo choreographed WWE-like entrances that included:
- himself doing the robot with a KFC bucket hat,
- himself as a baseball player,
- himself in Samurai garb,
and ended every fight carrying the flag of his motto, “We Are All One”:
I think Sudo is especially interesting, though, for the way he moves. Sudo started wrestling in high-school, and later moved to the United States where he attained a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt (a level of very high expertise).
During his UFC debut at UFC 38 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Sudo faced off against English fighter Leigh Remedios. In the first minute of the second round, Sudo (with darker hair) executed a hip throw against Remedios and achieved side control:
Now Remedios (on the bottom) has to carry Sudo’s bodyweight. Remedios attempts to escape, using the cage to try to invert on top of Sudo.
Sudo sprawls, switches positions, and almost instantly locks himself onto Remedios’s back, where he gets the rear naked choke:
It’s just mwah beautiful, the way Sudo floats so quickly around his opponent. Just seconds after threatening a choke on Remedios, Sudo gets up, bows to his opponent, and casually chats with him.