Sentoryū Henri on arvau

Wikipedia / Sentoryū Henri

Henry Armstrong Miller (July 16, 1969 – January 29, 2026), known under the shikona , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler and MMA fighter, raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Sentoryū was the first wrestler from the United States mainland to reach the top makuuchi division.

Sentoryū made his professional debut in 1988 and reached a highest rank of maegashira 12 before retiring in 2003. He last competed in MMA in 2013, losing to Kazuhiro Nakamura.

Early life

Henry Miller was born in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan, the son of a Japanese mother and African-American father. He was born on the same day that the Apollo 11 lunar mission left Earth and his middle name was given to him by his father in honor of Neil Armstrong. He lived on Yokota Air Base until the age of six, when he moved with his family to St Louis, Missouri. He grew up in Ferguson. His dream of becoming a professional football player was ended by a knee injury in his senior year of high school, but he had also been wrestling since elementary school and he had qualified for the state championships. After graduating in 1987 he returned to Japan to try professional sumo.

Sumo career

Sentoryū joined the Tomozuna stable of wrestlers, also the home of future ozeki Kaio. He was given the shikona of Sentoryū, meaning "fighting war dragon" but also a play on words for his hometown of St. Louis. He was relatively small at 174cm and 94kg when he made his debut in July 1988. He won the yusho or tournament championship in his first tournament in the jonokuchi division in September 1988, defeating three others in a six-way playoff, including a fellow American, Shinnishiki from Los Angeles. In 1991 he reached makushita for the first time but injury problems meant he did not establish himself in the division until 1993. In November 1994 he became a sekitori for the first time but lasted only two tournaments in the jūryō division before being demoted.

It took Sentoryū more than four years of hard toil in the unsalaried makushita division (including a change of name to Kaishinzan in 1997) before he could win promotion back to the second division in July 1999, after an unbeaten 7–0 yusho in May. His final day victory over the former amateur champion Kototamiya (the future ozeki Kotomitsuki) was regarded as one of the high points of his career.

After reverting to the name Sentoryū, a strong 13–2 record in March 2000 sent him to the top of the jūryō division. With an 8–7 mark in May 2000, he finally achieved his goal of promotion to the top makuuchi division in July. It had taken him 72 tournaments from his professional debut to reach makuuchi, which is the slowest amongst foreign-born wrestlers.

Sentoryū came through with a winning record of 8–7 in his debut but was then demoted after only recording a 5–10 score in September 2000. He had to withdraw from the following tournament in November and missed the January 2001 basho. Nevertheless, he managed to hold his own in jūryō and had one more visit to the top division in January 2002. However, he suffered a serious injury and was unable to compete in the March and May 2002 tournaments, falling all the way back to makushita. He refused to give up and fought his way back to sekitori status in September 2003, becoming the fifth oldest wrestler to return to jūryō in the postwar era at 34 years, 1 month. However, another injury convinced him to retire at the end of the year, in the same tournament as Musashimaru. His great fighting spirit, despite all his injuries, won him many admirers. He had spent 20 tournaments as a sekitori, by far the most successful career by anyone from the contiguous United States.

He defeated Asashōryū in their only meeting in November 2000, when both were in the jūryō division. He also had three wins over Kotomitsuki in their four meetings.

Fighting style

Sentoryū favoured pushing and thrusting techniques, winning most of his matches by oshi dashi (push out), hatakikomi (slap down) or hikiotoshi (pull down).

Mixed martial arts and kickboxing career

After his retirement from sumo, Sentoryū tried his luck at mixed martial arts. He was recommended for PRIDE in April 2004 by Chiyotaikai Ryūji, who saw Akebono Taro make such transition a year before.

He had six wins and sixteen losses in his first 23 fights. He styled himself Henry "Sentoryu" Miller. He made an agreement with World Victory Road and fought Yoshihiro Nakao. On December 25, 2010 he faced Yoichi Babaguchi (former sekiwake Wakashoyo) in the first ever K-1 kickboxing match between former sekitori. There was an edge to the match because Miller blamed Babaguchi for an injury he sustained in a sumo bout between the two in November 1994 (his debut juryo tournament). Miller won the match in the first round.

Death

Sentoryū died at a hospital in Tokyo, on the night of January 29, 2026, at the age of 56. He suffered from serious lung disease in his later years.

Sumo career record

 1988
   
   
   
   MAEZUMOU
   jk51e61PPPChampion
   jo119w43
 
 1989
   jo89w43
   jo59w52
   jo22e25
   KYUJOjo56e
   jo126w61
   jo52e313
 
 1990
   JO72w52
   JO25e61
   sa66w61
   KYUJOsa18e
   sa78e52
   sa44e61
 
 1991
   ma60e124
   KYUJOsa35w
   sa35w61
   ma55e331
   KYUJOsa6e
   sa6e25
 
 1992
   sa34w25
   sa61w52
   sa30w43
   sa18w34
   sa33e34
   sa51e61
 
 1993
   sa5e61
   ma34w43
   ma23w43
   ma16w43
   KYUJOma12e
   ma12e52
 
 1994
   ma7w25
   ma22e61
   ma9e52
   ma4w52
   ma2e61
   j12e96
 
 1995
   j9e69
   ma1e34
   ma5w43
   ma3e43
   ma2w025
   KYUJOma37e
 
 1996
   ma37e52
   ma21e25
   ma40w43
   ma31e61P
   ma13e52
   ma5e34
 
 1997
   ma8e61
   ma2e25
   ma14e25
   ma29w61
   ma12w43
   ma10e61
 
 1998
   ma2e25
   ma13w16
   ma36w61
   ma16e43
   ma12w43
   ma8e34
 
 1999
   ma14e43
   ma11w43
   ma9e70Champion
   j11w87
   j10w69
   j13w96
 
 2000
   j9w78
   j11e132P
   j2e87
   m13e87
   m12w510
   J1e357
 
 2001
   KYUJOj9w
   j9w96
   j4w78
   j6e96PP
   j2w78
   j3w87
 
 2002
   m15e69
   KYUJOj3e
   KYUJOma1e
   ma41e52
   ma26e25
   ma44w61
 
 2003
   ma18w52
   ma9e43
   ma6w43
   ma3w52
   j11w411
   INTAIma5w25

Kickboxing record

Mixed martial arts record