[6] Sumo commentator John Gunning noted that Hakuhō left an unmatchable legacy,[7] while a columnist for the Washington Post called him the "greatest figure in sports, maybe ever.

Hearing this, Kyokushūzan asked heya master Miyagino-oyakata to intercede, and Davaajargal was accepted to Miyagino stable on the last day of his two-month stay in Japan, 24 December 2000.

[13] He also enjoyed great success in subsequent tournaments, winning a gold star (kinboshi) for defeating yokozuna Asashōryū in November 2004 while still at the lowest makuuchi rank of maegashira.

[13] His ōzeki promotion came in March 2006 after a 13–2 record, which included a playoff for the championship (which he lost to Asashōryū) and also earned him two special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique.

[15] After another strong performance (13–2) in July, in which he finished as runner-up to Asashōryū and defeated him on the final day, Hakuhō was denied promotion to yokozuna, despite the Japan Sumo Association's chairman Kitanoumi saying before the tournament that he would be considered if he posted 13 wins.

[18] An injury sustained in training prevented him from participating in the November tournament,[19] putting him at risk for demotion (kadoban) in January 2007, when he scored a respectable ten wins on his return to the ring.

[33] On 28 November, the fourteenth day of the Kyushu basho, he clinched his twelfth tournament championship and broke Asashōryū's 2005 record for most bouts won in a calendar year, which had stood at 84.

[13] Hakuhō expressed his shock at the retirement of Asashōryū in February, following allegations his fellow yokozuna had assaulted a man in a drunken brawl outside a nightclub during the previous tournament.

"[36] After getting regularly beaten by Asashōryū earlier in his career, Hakuhō came to completely dominate him, winning all of their last seven regulation matches (excluding two tournament-playoff defeats) and finishing with a 14–13 record over his greatest rival.

[38] Hakuhō wrapped up his fourteenth championship in May by Day 13 (his earliest yūshō win since July 2008) and went on to record his sixth zenshō-yūshō, the first time he has achieved this in consecutive tournaments.

[39] In July 2010 a special committee reviewing the extent of illegal gambling within sumo revealed that Hakuhō had bet several tens of thousands of yen on hanafuda Japanese card games with his fellow wrestlers twice a year or so.

[41] On the 14th day of the Nagoya tournament he won his 46th consecutive bout, surpassing Taihō's 45, behind only Chiyonofuji's 53 and Futabayama's 69 as the longest winning run since the beginning of the Shōwa era.

At a press conference following his victory, he revealed that having his winning run halted before breaking Futabayama's record affected him so badly that he considered withdrawing from the tournament.

[50] On 21 December he was awarded the Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize, receiving the Prime Minister's Trophy from Naoto Kan.[51] In the January 2011 tournament in Tokyo he was surprisingly beaten by Kisenosato for the second time in a row but he secured his eighteenth championship on the fourteenth day.

[61] However he then won five bouts in a row and was even in with an outside chance of claiming the yūshō until it was announced that Kotoōshū was withdrawing on the final day and giving Tochiōzan an automatic twelfth win.

Hakuhō's defeat by Harumafuji on Day 15 meant he finished on 10–5, his worst ever score as a yokozuna and the first time since his debut at the rank, 29 tournaments ago, that he failed to be at least the runner–up.

[85] In September Hakuhō lost to Okinoumi and Yoshikaze on the first two days,[86] and then announced that he would miss the rest of the tournament owing to an injury which was diagnosed as tendinitis in the left quadriceps.

[88] On his return in November he appeared to be in dominant form and won his first twelve matches, but defeats in the last three days to Harumafuji, Terunofuji and Kakuryū saw him end the tournament in a three-way tie for second place.

[4] He secured his 37th championship on the fourteenth day when his only challenger Kisenosato fell to his second loss, and he rounded off the tournament by defeating Kakuryū with a rare backward pivot throw (utchari) to ensure a 29th consecutive victory and a perfect 15–0 record.

[111] Hakuhō's only defeat was to Yoshikaze on Day 11, after which he appealed to the ringside judges to declare the match a false start and initially refused to climb back on the dohyō and accept the loss.

[120] On 22 September 2018, the 14th day of the Aki Basho, Hakuhō created history by winning his 41st Emperor's Cup and scoring his 1000th victory in sumo's top makuuchi division.

[130] He only performed the yokozuna dohyo-iri ceremony during the spring tour, and on 9 May his stablemaster confirmed that he would be sitting out the Natsu tournament as he had only begun basic training routines.

The council announced it would revisit the issue at the end of the July 2021 tournament, which Hakuho referred to as "make or break" for his continued participation in active competition.

[162] In April 2021 a committee outside of the Sumo Association had declared that the ichidai-toshiyori system, in which exceptional yokozuna are given special one-generation elder status and allowed them to keep their shikona after retirement, did not in fact exist.

He said that he had made the decision to retire after achieving double-digit wins at the July tournament in Nagoya, and waited for the right time because of several factors, including Terunofuji's promotion to yokozuna, the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the COVID-19 outbreak that prevented his stable from competing in the September basho.

[170] Accompanied by ōzeki Takakeishō and sekiwake Hōshōryū, serving as the tachimochi (sword bearer) and tsuyuharai (dew sweeper) respectively, Hakuhō performed his last yokozuna dohyō-iri, or ring entering ceremony.

On 28 July 2022 the Japan Sumo Association announced that he had inherited the Miyagino elder stock and would become the head coach of the stable, as the then Miyagino-oyakata (former Chikubayama) would reach the mandatory retirement age of 65 in August 2022.

Hakuhō was summoned to inform him that disciplinary proceedings had been launched against both of them, risking a salary deduction and a demotion in the toshiyori hierarchy (the elders in charge of running the association).

"[187] In practice, the board decision led to the temporary appointment of Tamagaki (the former Tomonohana), a member of the Isegahama ichimon, to supervise Miyagino stable during the March 2024 tournament.

While meeting foreign journalists in April 2009, Hakuhō said he was studying the techniques of the 35th yokozuna Futabayama, a wrestler whom he greatly admires, in particular his go-no-sen approach to the tachi-ai or initial charge.