Makekoshi (負け越し) means a majority of losses in a professional sumo championship.

In sumo, promotion and demotion depends on performance in the previous 15 day tournament, where senior wrestlers (Juryo and above) compete once a day, and junior wrestlers (Makushita and below) seven times over the duration of the championship. The first aim of the majority of wrestlers is to make kachikoshi (a majority of wins or a score of 8-7 of better for a senior wrestler), which usually guarantees a promotion up the ranks.

Makekoshi almost always leads to demotion down the ranks. The size of the demotion will depend how bad the score was. There are exceptions to this rule for Ozeki and Yokozuna.

For Ozeki a wrestler must make two makekoshi in a row before being demoted.

Yokozuna can never be demoted. However, it is considered disgraceful for a yokozuna to go makekoshi and he is expected to withdraw from the tournament at an early stage if he is in danger of doing so. Consistent poor performances will lead to his retirement.