(NOAH) "Fighting on", Naomichi Marufuji on the single front even with right knee surgery.

4th February 2020
Tokyo Sports

Return to glory.
Noah's Naomichi Marufuji (40) has anticipated a return to the single championship front. Setsubun was the last official event before he is absent to undergo a surgery to remove loose cartilage in the right knee called a "rat*" on the 4th.
He will leave the ring from the 7th February in Yokohama to the 22nd Shizuoka event, and aim to return in Nagoya on the 24th.

Marufuji, who participated in the Setsubun ceremony at Ikegami Honmonji on February 3rd said, "My anxiety will go with the operation, to be honest, I was stressed that I couldn't go ahead with it." As this is the third time he has had a knee operation, he was encouraged by the words of his senior, Kenta Kobashi (52). Kobashi of course, has suffered many times during his career.
Marufuji asked him how many times he had knee surgery, to which the "Ironman" responded, "I don't really remember as there were so many, but I guess it was seven or eight times".

Speaking about his return, Marufuji said "I currently have the GHC heavyweight tag (with DragonGate's Masaaki Mochizuki), but if my knee is perfect, then I can fight singles without anxiety. Do I aim for two championships like a certain someone? Both the red (GHC National) and black (GHC Heavyweight)?"

Can he aim for the top again with the new Ark and the new system now that is has become a subsidiary of CyberAgent?
The genius rests for a short while before return.

Link to original article from Tokyo Sports
Picture credit: Tokyo Sports

*Name comes from tests on rats, which are the basis for what is known about the knee joint.