in the january 2010 tournament he broke a run of three consecutive "make-koshi" that had seen him slip to "maegashira" 16 by finishing joint runner-up (alongside hakuho and baruto) on 12–3, and he was awarded the fighting spirit prize for the third time. he was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the july 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. as a result, he fell to the "jūryō" division in september. after two tournaments in the second division he returned to "makuuchi" in january 2011.