Yokozuna Terunofuji withdrew from the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Friday due to injuries to his right heel and left knee, leaving the ongoing 15-day competition at Edion Arena Osaka without a wrestler from the sport's highest rank.
The 30-year-old suffered his second loss on Thursday, the fifth day of the tournament, against No. 2 maegashira Tamawashi.
Terunofuji will forfeit his scheduled bout on Day 6 against No. 3 Onosho and leaves the meet with a 3-3 record.
The injuries will require treatment for around one month, according to medical information Terunofuji submitted to the Japan Sumo Association on Friday.
The injury withdrawal is Terunofuji's first in his four tournaments as a yokozuna.
He hurt his heel during the January tournament, where he missed out on winning a third straight championship, and caught the coronavirus in early February, adding to concerns about his fitness for the current meet.
After reaching sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki, Terunofuji's career was nearly ended by injuries to both knees and bouts of serious illness that saw him plummet to the sport's second-lowest division in March 2019.
He clawed his way back up the rankings, however, and made a triumphant return to the top division in July 2020, when he won the second of his six Emperor's Cups.
The Mongolian-born powerhouse was promoted to yokozuna after last July's grand tournament and became the sole man at the rank when Hakuho retired in September.
The March tournament is being held in front of spectators at its regular home in Osaka for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.