>>233587
>because he was stupid enough to piss off his supporter's club
His koen kai disbanded because Akebono married a woman that the koen kai disapproved of, as opposed to someone that would've given the koen kai more prestige and connections that Akebono had initially been in a relationship with.
More importantly though, without support from his (defunct) koen kai, taking the K-1 contract and leaving the sumo world was an attractive option when the only real option for staying in sumo would've been to take additional debts borrowing money to buy a kabu, then working up the ranks with a reduced salary. I've also heard that he was in deep debt from failing restaurant/real estate investments, but I couldn't find a source for this.