Whether it's standing in a batting cage – without a bat – and carefully dodging baseballs launched by a pitching machine to chasing down flying airplanes on foot, DREAM's Ikuhisa Minowa has long embraced a pro wrestling persona by devising the most unorthodox training routines leading up to his fights.
For his Oct. 6 fight against Hong-Man Choi at the Super Hulk open-weight tournament at DREAM 11, Minowa (42-30-8) is at it again by strapping on a mawashi and practicing traditional sumo stances before shoving sumo wrestlers across the room.
Minowa, who stands at 5-foot-9 and weighs in at just under light heavyweight, is often billed as a "giant killer" for accepting fights against far larger opponents the likes of Giant Silva, Butterbean, Zuluzinho and most recently, Bob Sapp, whom Minowa submitted with a kneebar to advance in the Super Hulk tournament.
Minowa has fought a 7-foot-2 fighter before at PRIDE Bushido 10 in April 2006, stopping Giant Silva with knees in the first round. And for Silva, Minowa's bizarre routine was to simulate Silva's height by having two training partners, one sitting on top of the other's shoulders, and having bamboo sticks swung at him.
But don't completely write off Minowa for his eccentricities. He'll fight anyone from Wanderlel Silva to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson -- back to back -- and he holds wins over Don Frye, Phil Baroni and Gilbert Yvel.
For his Oct. 6 fight against Hong-Man Choi at the Super Hulk open-weight tournament at DREAM 11, Minowa (42-30-8) is at it again by strapping on a mawashi and practicing traditional sumo stances before shoving sumo wrestlers across the room.
Minowa, who stands at 5-foot-9 and weighs in at just under light heavyweight, is often billed as a "giant killer" for accepting fights against far larger opponents the likes of Giant Silva, Butterbean, Zuluzinho and most recently, Bob Sapp, whom Minowa submitted with a kneebar to advance in the Super Hulk tournament.
Minowa has fought a 7-foot-2 fighter before at PRIDE Bushido 10 in April 2006, stopping Giant Silva with knees in the first round. And for Silva, Minowa's bizarre routine was to simulate Silva's height by having two training partners, one sitting on top of the other's shoulders, and having bamboo sticks swung at him.
But don't completely write off Minowa for his eccentricities. He'll fight anyone from Wanderlel Silva to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson -- back to back -- and he holds wins over Don Frye, Phil Baroni and Gilbert Yvel.
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