Sumo grand champion Asashoryu suddenly retired Thursday amid the fallout from a late-night drinking session in which he reportedly hit a man and broke his nose.

“I will retire,” a tearful Asashoryu said after meeting with sumo officials. “I have caused a lot of trouble but I have no regrets about my sumo.”

The Mongolian wrestler has been involved in a series of incidents over the years that have tainted the reputation of Japan’s ancient sport.

In the most recent, the 29-year-old was accused of assaulting a man after drinking in downtown Tokyo. The weekly magazine Friday reported that Asashoryu was intoxicated when leaving an establishment and hit an acquaintance, who Asashoryu later claimed was his manager.

However, weekly magazine Shukan Shincho reported that the man attacked was in charge of a dance club where the Mongolian had been drinking.

The incident came in the middle of the New Year sumo tournament and has dominated headlines in Japan ever since.

At a press conference Thursday, Asashoryu said his best memory in sumo was beating grand champion Musashimaru when his parents made their first trip to Japan to see him wrestle.

“That was my best moment,” Asashoryu said, wiping away tears. “I’ve been under a lot of mental stress and right now I want to get some rest.”

Asashoryu has often been criticized for not living up to the standards of a sumo grand champion in a sport associated closely with Japanese traditional culture.

In 2007, he became the first grand champion ever suspended when it was revealed he participated in a football game in Mongolia while citing injury to skip tournaments. In 2003, he pulled an opponent’s top knot during a bout, resulting in an immediate disqualification.

Asashoryu won his 25th Emperor’s Cup last month and is third on the all-time list of title winners.

Regardless of his antics outside of the ring, Asashoryu will be remembered as one of the greatest grand champions in the history of sumo. Only two wrestlers—Taiho with 32 and Chiyonofuji with 31—have more titles than Asashoryu.