He was suspended from the September 2019 tournament after an investigation found he had struck an attendant, and was asked to retire by the Japan Sumo Association.

He is the older of identical twins, and is distinguished from his brother by the fact that he has a mole near his upper lip.

With his brother Takagenji already in the division it was the first time in sumo history that twins had both achieved sekitori status.

[1] However he withdrew partway through that tournament and was suspended from the next for assaulting his personal attendant or tsukebito after a match.

[6] Takanofuji had his best result in the division, an 11–4 record, which ensured a new highest rank of jūryō 5 for the following tournament.

He was withdrawn by his new stablemaster Chiganoura from the September 2019 tournament after it emerged that he had once again assaulted an attendant after a practice session on 31 August.

[7] The incident was investigated by Japan Sumo Association's compliance committee which on September 26 recommended that he retire.

[7] However, the following day Takanofuji held a press conference in which he said he would not go voluntarily because "this penalty is too heavy and I can't accept it."

[9] He moved out of the stable to an apartment and refused to deal directly with his stablemaster, asking his lawyer to be the intermediary.

Through his attorney Takanofuji said, "I still wanted to continue, but my interactions with the Sumo Association left me exhausted.

[13] Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi After concluding his sumo wrestling career, Takanofuji said in an interview in July 2020 that he was training to become an MMA fighter and hoped to enter a Rizin event.

[17] In order to be eligible to compete in the heavyweight division in mixed martial arts, Sudario lost around 110 pounds (50 kg) before his debut.

However, Duffee was forced to withdraw from the bout on September 28, due to visa issues, and was replaced by Lim Dong-hwan.