Taylor Wily

Taylor Tuli Wily (June 14, 1968 – June 20, 2024) was an American actor, sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist. He competed in UFC where he was billed as Teila Tuli and also competed in sumo wrestling. As an actor, he was known for his recurring role as Kamekona Tupuola on both Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I.

Early life Wily was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 14, 1968, to Kuinise Wily and Levaosina Alo. He was of American Samoan descent. At the time he weighed and played tackle. He later played for the semi-professional Kauai Enforcers, a grid-iron football team on the island of Kauai.

Sumo career In March 1987, Wily was recruited by former sekiwake Takamiyama Daigorō, another Hawaiian, and joined Azumazeki stable, which Takamiyama had founded the previous year. He was given the shikona (ring name) of Takamishū Daikichi (高見州 大吉). In a 2016 interview with Sherdog he remarked on his first bout saying "I won a case of Spam and some rice, and that was it, I was into sumo." he was one of the largest wrestlers in sumo. In March 1988, he was promoted to the third highest makushita division, and became the first foreign-born wrestler to ever win the championship in that division. In the same month, future yokozuna Akebono Tarō, also from Hawaii, joined the Azumazeki stable. As the highest-ranking wrestler in the stable, he was a mentor to Akebono and gave him advice on how to adjust to life in Japan. In March 1989, he was at the rank of makushita (top junior division) and competed Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka, Japan. Takamishū (Wily) was never to reach sekitori status himself.

He did not compete in the following tournament, and retired from sumo in July 1989 due to knee problems.

Ultimate Fighting Championship After leaving sumo, Wily went to New Japan Pro Wrestling in September 1990 and joined Tatsumi Fujinami's stable, Dragon Bombers, as a trainee, alongside fellow former sumo Nankairyū Tarō. However, the stable dissolved in 1992 and he left NJPW. He continued his training, which evolved into mixed martial arts, preparing him for the first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championships. He adopted the name "Teila Tuli" that he was billed for during the competition. He explained his reasoning saying "They didn't want me to come with such an English name," he said. "So I took Taylor and spelled it the way we spell it here in Polynesia, Teila, and used my middle name, Tuli, and got rid of Wily." This was the first UFC fight on broadcast television as a previous match had not been broadcast. Tuli rushed forward, but lost his balance and was met with a brutal kick to the head that knocked a few of his teeth out, and a punch that broke Gordeau's hand, with the referee stopping the fight as a TKO win for Gordeau. Reportedly, several teeth were lodged in Gordeau's foot, while another landed in the audience. Afterwards he suffered from blurred vision in one eye for several years. At the time he weighed and was hoping to become a prison guard. In 1995, he also took part in the World Sumo Championship in Tokyo, competing with the United States team, which placed second.

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Gerard Gordeau TKO (head kick) UFC 1

Denver, United States First televised fight in UFC history Wily had a role in the comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a hotel worker who befriended the main character played by Jason Segel. He also appeared in the 2017 film Radical.

He had a recurring role on the television series Hawaii Five-0 where he played Kamekona who was both an informant and an entrepreneur. He also made cameo appearances playing the same character in the reboot series Magnum, P.I. and MacGyver.

He also appeared as a sumo wrestler in "Battle of the Titans", an episode of One West Waikiki, another TV show filmed in Hawaii.

Select filmography Year !! Film/Series !! Role !! Note

12th Leg His death was announced by host Lina Girl Langi during the show Island Life Live. He was married and had a daughter and a son. Peter M. Lenkov and Andre Jackson posted tributes to him online.