World Championship Sumo Takes Center Stage at the Westchester County Center - An Historic Night for Combat Sports

by Warren Rosenberg, MetroSports Magazine January 31, 2026

On Friday, January 30, 2026, the sport of sumo wrestling made an appearance in White Plains, New York, as the World Championship Sumo (WCS) tournament was held at the Westchester County Center. This landmark event brought one of the world’s oldest and most revered combat sports to a new stage, attracting fans from across the region for an intense night of elite athletic competition.

Above: Fans packed into the Westchester County Center enjoying a night of World Championship Sumo.

Organized by the International Sumo League (ISL), the World Championship Sumo event assembled 12 of the top professional sumo wrestlers from around the world. The competition promised more than just size and strength as it showcased lightning-fast engagements, strategic grappling, and a blend of age-old ritual and modern athleticism that defines the sport of sumo.

Among the highlighted athletes were five-time European champions Badri Khatiskatsi and Lasha Jeladze, as well as Dominus “Domzilla” Davis-Williams, a dominant U.S. super-weight competitor and 2025 World Games bronze medalist.

Adding a compelling local element to the global spectacle, several wrestlers from the New York area competed and energized the hometown crowd. Members of the New York Sumo Club, including Kofi Miller (Brooklyn), Joshua Ortiz (Bronx), Josh “Judo Josh” Wade (Brooklyn), and Kendell Perry (New Jersey), stepped onto the dohyo (sumo ring) with hometown pride and skill, offering fans a personal connection to the evening’s battles.

A sumo match begings when two wrestlers (rikishi) face off in a circular ring called the dohyō, crouching behind starting lines indicated on the mat. When both wrestlers are ready, the place both fists down on the matt and charge toward eachother in a move called the tachi-ai.  The goal is to win the bout in just a few seconds by doing one of two things: force your opponent out of the ring, or make any part of your opponent’s body (other than the soles of their feet) touch the ground.  The first one to do either of those wins.

Allowed are actions such as pushing, shoving, grappling, grabbing the thick belt (the mawashi), trows, trips, and slaps.  Not allowed are punching with a closed fist, hair pulling, eye pokes, choking, and kicking the groin. A typical match lasts between 3 and 10 seconds.

Above: Dominus "Domzilla" Davis-Williams (left) faces off against Badri Khatiskatis (right) in the Championship Final

In the end, Dominus “Domzilla” Davis-Willams, succeeded in progressing through the opening round, quarterfinals, semifinals, and to cheers of “U-S-A,  U-S-A, went on to defeat his opponent from the Republic of Georgia,  Badri Khatiskatsi, and was crowned the tournament Champion.

Sumo wrestling is one of Japan’s oldest sports, with roots going back over 1,500 years. It began as a Shinto ritual, where bouts were performed to entertain the gods and pray for good harvests. Early sumo was less formal and sometimes brutal, tied closely to religious ceremonies.

By the Nara and Heian periods (8th–12th centuries), sumo became part of the imperial court, with more rules and structure. During the Edo period (1603–1868), it evolved into a professional spectator sport, gaining dedicated arenas, ranked wrestlers, and standardized rules—many of which still exist today. Today, sumo is considered Japan’s national sport, preserving ancient customs while functioning as a professional competition.