His "up and down" form continued in 2016 as he was relegated after the March tournament, returned to the top division in July and was relegated again after a 6–9 record in November. He won promotion back to "makuuchi" after the March 2017 tournament where he took his third "jūryō" championship after winning a three-way playoff when he, Osunaarashi and Asanoyama all finished on 10–5. However he was immediately demoted back to "jūryō" after a 4–11 record in May. He did not enter the January 2018 tournament because of the detection of an irregular heartbeat. This resulted in him dropping to the "makushita" division, where he still remains as of 2019. One of the heaviest men in the division at , Toyohibiki is a wrestler with great power but he also has suspect footwork. He favours pushing techniques, using his weight to his best advantage. Of the 44 matches he won between July 2007 and May 2008, 24 were by "oshi-dashi", or a simple push out. He is not fond of grips on the "mawashi", winning only three bouts by "yori-kiri" or force out during the same period.