Emanuel Yarbrough Born Sept. 5, 1964 in Rahway, N.J., Emanuel Yarbrough played football at Morgan State University in the 1980s, and wrestled for the now-defunct mat program at the Baltimore-based school. In 1983, he earned his first All-American honor, placing eighth in the unlimited weight class (now 285 pounds) at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. At the 1986 NCAA Division I championships at the University of Iowa, Yarbrough was unseeded in the unlimited weight bracket. He pinned his first opponent, but lost to eventual champ Kirk Trost of Michigan by disqualification in his second match. Yarbrough battled back in the consolation bracket to eventually place eighth for his second All-American honors.
(Yarbrough was among the last of the supersized heavyweight wrestlers in college competition, along with 370-pound Jimmy Jackson of Oklahoma State (three-time champ, 1976-78) and 1984 champ Tab Thacker of North Carolina State (who weighed in at over 400 pounds). It was about this time that the NCAA put a top weight limit on what had been "unlimited", first, 265 pounds, then, later, 285.)
Forced to discontinue wrestling because of weight restrictions place on Olympic-style wrestling, Yarbrough took up sumo wrestling. He was a member of the U.S. National Sumo team starting in 1992. Yarbrough was the World Amateur Sumo Champion in 1995, and won a number of medals at the Sumo World Championships. Yarbrough was certified as 4th Dan/Yodan by Nihon Sumo Renmei in 1996.
During the same era, Yarbrough also ventured into professional MMA, then a fledging sport, with no weight classes or restrictions. At the Ultimate Fighting Championships' UFC 3 event in Charlotte in Sept. 1994, the 600+ pound Yarbrough drew to fight 195-pound Keith Hackney. In the opening seconds of their bout, Yarbrough drove Hackney out of the cage through the door. When the match resumed, Hackney knocked Yarbrough down with handstrikes, winning on a TKO in less than two minutes. Yarbrough had a total of three pro MMA bouts in the 1990s, compiling a 1-2 overall record.
Yarbrough became something of a multi-media star, appearing in TV series and commercials, and movies. Among his more famous roles included the HBO series "Oz", and in the Mickey Rourke movie "The Wrestler."
A GoFundMe.com campagin has been launched to help raise funds to bring Yarbrough back to New Jersey and pay for funeral costs and has already raised more than $6,000.
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