Bet you didn’t see that MMA topic coming, did ya? Believe it or not, women’s sumo is becoming a very prominent and respected sport in Japan.

The ancient line of thinking claimed that sumo culture was exclusively for men and that female sumo wrestling would “contaminate” the sacred ring, the dohyo, with its “impurity.” Thankfully, old prejudices are disappearing.

The International Olympic Committee only considers introducing new sports that allow both genders to compete. As a result, women’s sumo has started growing in Japan. The nation hopes to host the 2020 Olympic Games and, if it does, sumo could be featured prominently.

More and more women are competing in sumo; the number in Japan is reportedly in the hundreds now but should keep growing into the thousands. The rules are the same; the grappling begins with a head-on collision followed by an epic struggle to push each other out of the ring. The only real difference between men’s and women’s sumo, naturally, is that female competitors aren’t topless.

According to an article I read in the New York Times, women’s sumo is no joke. Shinasku Takeuchi, head of the Women’s Sumo Federation, says “women’s sumo is becoming even more vicious than the men’s.”

The amateur competition is becoming more sophisticated. Girls can go to high school or college in Japan on a sumo scholarship and compete in women-only events like the All-Japan Women’s Sumo Championships.

Will we see women’s sumo in the Olympics one day? Hard to say. It’s still a long shot in my mind. It’s possible that the growth in popularity could just be viewed as Japan developing an agenda – deliberately pouring resources into women’s sumo just to get the sport into the Olympics and not because it wants to give female athletes an opportunity they deserve. For the dream to become a reality, we’ll need to see a more prominent sumo presence across other nations. Many European countries compete and excel in sumo but don’t seem to get the same media attention as Japanese competitors. Until they do, we may not see sumo in the Olympics.