As promised, here’s the Shinya Aoki-Joachim Hansen bout from last night’s Dream event, though watching the whole thing is going to take a decent chunk out of your afternoon.  In the interest of making the most of your time, you might just want to skip to the 10:58 mark to see the upkick to the groin, followed by the upkicks to the face from Hansen.  Guy Mezger and Michael Schiavello seem ready to assume that Aoki is faking it, and although he does seem to get some preferential treatment from the ref at times in this fight, the replays confirm that he got kicked in the pills before taking the shots to the head.  So give him a break, would you? 

After you’ve lived through that fiasco, you might as well move on to the second round.  In the last two minutes Hansen is unlucky enough to end up with Aoki mounted on him, and that rarely leads to anything good.  His calm demeanor after getting stuck in the armbar makes you think he’s going to last until the end of the round with no problem, but that Aoki is a slick one.  Up next for him?  Probably a showdown with Tatsuya Kawajiri on the New Year’s Eve show.  Also expected for that event is Bob Sapp vs. a puppy.  No word yet on the breed of the puppy, but it is thought to be adorable.  Oddsmakers have pegged it an early -175 favorite over Sapp. 

Bibiano Fernandes vs. Hiroyuki Takaya, plus some press conference footage, is after the jump.

Fernandes vs. Takaya (Dream 2009 Featherweight GP Final) Bob Sapp post-fight interview

A bruiseless, unbloodied Bob Sapp argues that his loss was the result of an early stoppage.  Seriously.  In case you missed it, Sapp’s idea of an intelligent defense can be found here.  Regardless, just because he can’t stop or even completely block an opponent’s strikes against his expansive, motionless form, he doesn’t see that as any reason to stop the fight. 

Joe Warren post-fight interview

Following the example that Sapp set forth, Joe Warren would also like to complain about the stoppage in his fight.  The difference is, Warren might actually have a gripe.  He says he didn’t tap and wasn’t in danger, and even though the video evidence seems to suggest that he might have been closer to getting Razak Al-Hassan‘d than he let on, there’s no way to know that for sure.  Though just when you’re about to believe that Warren got a raw deal, he a) repeatedly apologizes for losing, making you think that he knows he was really beaten fair and square, and b) kind of acts like an arrogant dick, making you not really care either way.  Hey, if his gimmick is being the brash, outspoken American who overuses the word ‘violence,’ then he is absolutely nailing it.

Rubin Williams post-fight interview

Okay, this is worth it to just to hear this pro boxer talk about being leg kicked by Sakuraba as if he didn’t even know that it was legal to do that in an MMA match.  He says he was "more than sure" he’d knock Sakuraba out, and he’d still like to challenge Saku to a boxing match.  It’s just…those damn kicks.  He didn’t know it would be that hard, you know?