Hideki “Shrek” Sekine: “I want to show my fighting image while fighting against the disease

I have three things to say. Wrestling is the best!　The best police officer!　The strongest Showa-born fighter!”

Hideki “Shrek” Sekine, 48, who won a deadly battle with Shoma Shibisai, 31, 17 years his junior, at “RIZIN.33” on New Year’s Eve last year, exclaimed, “Shrek” Hideki is the best wrestler in the world! Hideki “Shrek” Shrek (48) wowed the audience by exclaiming. He has become an “old man’s star” because of his style of fighting, no matter how hard he is hit, he never falls down and clings on to victory.

Sivisai is handsome, tall, a good fighter, and has good striking and grappling skills. Everyone thought he would win. But I’m the one with the beard and ugly face, and I’m going to win, so that sends a message. I thought this was the best thing I could do in my life, and I went all out to win.”

Adding the name “Shrek,” an ugly but kind-hearted character from an American animated film, to his ring name, Sekine laughs, “I’m a ‘lovable, sad monster. Indeed, his life before becoming a mixed martial artist was a series of cinematic scenes filled with love and sadness.

Ever since I was little, I wanted to be a professional wrestler,” he says. However, my mother died of cancer when I was in the first year of junior high school, and I was raised by my grandmother for a few years. …… She asked me to become a police officer, and I had no choice but to become one.

After graduating from college, he joined the Shizuoka Prefectural Police Department. After graduating from college, he began working for the Shizuoka Prefectural Police Department, first at a police box and then in the riot police. He worked his way up from the Detention Management Division to become a detective in the Regional Division, then to a riot squad squad leader, and finally to a detective in the Maruboshi Division and then to the International Investigation Division, where he had a spectacular career.

He was in charge of many gruesome crime scenes, such as yakuza-related cases, arson, and murder cases involving dismemberment, and it was not unusual for him to go a year without a day off. There were times when I was put in harm’s way, but I had no intention of quitting.

He got married at the age of 32 and was well on his way to an elite career as a police officer. However, during that time, Sekine’s health was being affected by illness.

He says, “When I entered my thirties, I began to gain muscle mass, my forehead and chin started to show, and my arms and legs got bigger and bigger. But I left it alone, thinking, ‘If it’s going to build muscle, why not?’ I guess I was 36 years old, and after eating, my blood sugar level would explode and I would feel like I was losing consciousness. I got tested and found out that I had pituitary hypersecretion of growth hormone – so-called “Gigantism. I had loved Geronimo from “Kinnikuman” since elementary school, so for some reason I was happy after being diagnosed (laughs). But I left it untreated for about a year, and one day, I collapsed on my shift. When I was examined, my blood sugar was 800, and the doctor stopped me. In the end, I had to have surgery.

Although his body stopped growing, he developed a thyroid disorder due to the removal of tissue that produces growth hormones. Sekine had to take a drug called “Thyrazine” to stay in motion. The tragedy did not end there.

I was unable to have children even after almost 10 years of marriage, so I had it checked out,” she said. As a result, I found out I had azoospermia. I felt that I was finished as a man and a husband.

In the depths of despair, Sekine found hope in a dream he once had.

After wondering, “What am I doing with my life?　After much worrying, he found the answer in becoming a professional fighter. When I was a police officer, I told delinquents that if they didn’t want to go to school, they didn’t have to, but they could make their dreams come true, but I had not fulfilled my dream of becoming a professional wrestler. I didn’t think I was cool enough to do that. It was risky to quit being a cop, but I wanted to give courage to myself and to those who were suffering by fighting.”

Sekine participated in the “RIZIN TRIGGER 3 Sekine also defeated former wrestler Takakenshin (ex-Takigenji, 25) of the Takanohana stable at the “RIZIN TRIGGER 3 rd” event in April. He became the strongest fighter in the heavyweight division of “RIZIN” in both name and reality. Although he is approaching his 50th birthday, his fighting spirit has not waned in the slightest.

When you are young, you fight for yourself. But when you are in your 40s, that is not enough to fight. But if you have other people’s thoughts, you can fight. When you lose your ego, you can fight. The juvenile delinquents I used to arrest and the people I have rehabilitated are supporting me. Because of their support, I am the strongest person in the world today.

With so much love and sadness on his back, his back looked even bigger than before.

From “FRIDAY” June 17, 2022 issue