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Tag: Joachim Hansen

Video Roundup: DREAM 17: “Fight for Japan”


You know, stuff like this. Except moving

Last night, HDNet aired their footage from DREAM’s disaster benefit show, which took place last weekend. Most of you already know what to expect, as results were posted immediately after the event took place, but the fights are worth a quick look. During Aoki vs Clementi Frank Trigg generously guestimated that a half dozen fighters were mentioned as possible opponents for Shinya Aoki. To be fair, that’s about when we stopped paying attention to rumored opponents for Aoki as well. Unfortunately, we don’t have any videos from the bantamweight tournament semifinal matchups. If we find some we’ll get them up. Videos are after the jump.

All videos courtesy of Fight Video MMA:

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While You Were Watching UFC 130: Ultimate Glory and Dream 17 Results


Mark Miller wastes no time knocking out Nikolaj Falin. Props: MMATKO

Chances are that you knew about the United Glory Tournament Finals that took place yesterday in Moscow. It featured some pretty intriguing fights, was available on YouTube and cost less than ten bucks. Of course, many of you figured you could save your money and check Cage Potato this afternoon for some highlights and a quick list of results. Don’t worry, we got your back as usual.

The welterweight tournament, which began in October of 2010, came to an end with a scrap between Golden Glory teammates Tommy Depret and Siyar Bahadurzada. To those of you who have concerns that two teammates fighting each other would lead to a boring fight, relax and take notes. Tommy Depret gave current SHOOTO light heavyweight champion Siyar Bahadurzada trouble in the opening round, but once the second round started, this fight was all Bahadurzada. Bahadurzada used his superior hands and clinchwork to get finish off Depret. Yes, we have a video of this after the jump.

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Aoki vs. ‘Chiquerim’, Hansen vs. Ishida Added to DREAM.17

Shinya Aoki Lyle Beerbohm Strikeforce MMA
(Subtlety has never been Shinya’s strong point. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)

Fresh off his first-round neck-crank victory over Lyle Beerbohm, Shinya Aoki will be returning to his homeland to compete at DREAM.17 (May 29th; Saitama, Japan). MMAWeekly reports that Aoki will take on former Shooto champ Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire, an 18-4 Nova Uniao product who was recently cut from the UFC after a single unsuccessful performance against Waylon Lowe at Fight for the Troops 2. The loss snapped an 11-fight win streak that included victories over Patricky Freire (no relation) and Yusuke Endo.

Also supporting the Japan Bantamweight Tournament at DREAM.17 will be a featherweight meeting between PRIDE Bushido/DREAM mainstays Joachim Hansen and Mitsuhiro Ishida. Hansen’s last DREAM appearance was a first-round submission of Hideo Tokoro last September, while Ishida is riding back-to-back decision victories over Daiki Hata and “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura. Speaking of Wicky, he’s also been booked for a DREAM.17 date against 15-year MMA veteran Caol Uno, who has gone winless in his last five fights.

Of course, Uno has previously suffered losses to Aoki and Hansen, while Aoki and Hansen have fought each other three times. Basically, everybody mentioned in this article shares germs.

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Joachim Hansen and Murilo Bustamante to Compete in Sweden October 29 at Superior Challenge 6: Lion’s Den


(Video courtesy Vimeo/SuperiorChallenge)

Former UFC middleweight champion, Murilo Bustamante and former DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix winner, Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen will compete alongside veterans Hector Ramirez, David Baron, Daniel Acacio and David Bielkheden on a pretty decent card in Sweden on October 29.

Superior Challenge 6 will take pace at the Hovet in Stockholm and will feature two title bouts between welterweights Bielkheden and Acacio and lightweights Hansen and Sami Aziz.

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Oh, Yeah: DREAM.14 Airs Late Tonight on HDNet (3 a.m. ET/midnight PT)

Ralek Gracie Kazushi Sakuraba Dream 14 weigh-ins
(A motivated Sakuraba is a dangerous Sakuraba. That doesn’t apply here, obviously, but I’m just saying. Check out more DREAM.14 weigh-in photos at dreamofficial.com.)

We haven’t given this event much play because, let’s face it, none of these fights really amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Nick Diaz is probably going to chew up Hayato Sakurai, who has been stopped in his last two outings. Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Ralek Gracie is a sideshow, even if it’s one with a historic hook. (Minowaman vs. random fat-guy Imani Lee is just a sideshow, period.) Kid Yamamoto is facing a middling prospect, while Joachim Hansen — who’s riding his own two-fight losing streak — will look for his first win at featherweight. The only real questions are: 1) How good will Diaz look? and 2) Will Saku add another beating to his highlight reel? Still, if you happen to have HDNet and DVR service (or insomnia), it’s better than nothing. Weigh-in results are below. Come back tomorrow for complete results and selected fight videos.

8. WW: Nick Diaz 76.0kg vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai 76.5kg
7. 88kg Catchweight: Kazushi Sakuraba 86.5kg vs. Ralek Gracie 87.4kg
6. FW: Hiroyuki Takaya 65.0kg vs. Joachim Hansen 65.0kg
5. FW: Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto 59.8kg vs. Federico "Kiko" Lopez 62.0 kg* (Lopez came in way over the fight’s 60kg limit; he will be given time to lose the weight this afternoon.)
4. FW: Hideo Tokoro 63.0kg vs. Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura 62.8kg
3. FW: Kazuyuki Miyata 64.2kg vs. Takafumi Otsuka 64.4kg
2. FW: Yoshiro Maeda 60.7kg vs. Kenji Osawa 61.0kg
1. Openweight: Minowaman 88kg vs. Imani Lee 150kg

After the jump: Diaz explains why he’s the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

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DREAM 13 Quick Results and Videos: Barnett Subs ‘Mighty Mo’, Fernandes Edges Out Hansen to Retain Featherweight Title


(Josh Barnett vs. Mighty Mo. Skip to the 6:28 mark to see Barnett accept a knee to the groin as repayment for the one that happened during the fight. Video courtesy of 19054771 via Bloody Elbow.)

Full results from today’s seven-bout card in Yokohama are below; more videos after the jump.

Bibiano Fernandes (champion) def. Joachim Hansen via split decision
Josh Barnett def. Siala-Mou "Mighty Mo" Siligia via submission (kimura), 4:41 of round 1
K.J. Noons def. Andre "Dida" Amade via unanimous decision
Ryo Chonan def. Andrews Nakahara via unanimous decision
– Cole Escovedo def. Yoshiro Maeda via KO (head kick), 2:29 of round 1
Katsunori Kikuno def. Kuniyoshi Hironaka via KO (strikes), 1:26 of round 1
Ikuhisa Minowa def. Jimmy Ambriz via submission (toe hold), 2:42 of round 2

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Dream.11 Video Round-Up, Part Two: Aoki-Hansen, Fernandes-Takaya, + Press Conference Highlights

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.

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Video Hype: UFC 104 + DREAM 11


(Props: YouTube.com/UFC)

After two consecutive knockouts over Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, Dana White can finally start referring to Lyoto Machida as fighter who "loves to stand up and bang." Which is a good thing, because it might be hard to sell UFC 104‘s main event otherwise: Two Brazilians, one of them an elusive karate practitioner, the other a former PRIDE champ on the decline who got his title shot out of convenience and who will probably lose this fight. In the above preview, Joe Rogan makes sure to remind us of Shogun’s glory days, and Dana White reminds us that Rua most recently knocked out Chuck Liddell ["Chuck Liddell, Chuck Liddell"]. Still, Lyoto is impossible to hit and incredibly efficient with his attacks. Can Rua be a legitimate threat to his title, or will he be dominated and demoralized like everyone else the Dragon has faced in the Octagon? Also, Cain Velasquez gets props for the way he rebounded from abuse in his last fight against Cheick Kongo, but Ben Rothwell guarantees that Mr. Brown Pride has never been hit as hard as he’s gonna hit him. I mean, just look at those clips of Rothwell beating the crap out of Andrei Arlovski. (Rothwell won that fight, right?)

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Aoki vs. Hansen III, Super Hulk Semis + Featherweight GP Finals Set for DREAM.11

Joachim Hansen Shinya Aoki MMA DREAM
(In the animal kingdom, playing dead can be considered an intelligent defense. In an MMA fight, not so much. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Yesterday’s event may have been low on spectacle, but DREAM plans to come back strong for their next show. Here’s what’s on the card for DREAM.11 (October 6th, Yokohama):

— The long-awaited rubber-match between Shinya Aoki and Joachim Hansen. The two top-ten lightweights first met at PRIDE Shockwave 2006, where Aoki took out Hellboy via gogoplata. But Hansen got revenge last July, scoring a brutal TKO over Aoki at DREAM’s lightweight GP finals. Hansen has been inactive since that fight, while Aoki has gone 4-1, earning victories over Eddie Alvarez and Vitor Ribeiro, with his only loss to Hayato Sakurai in an ill-advised welterweight match.

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“Fields Dynamite!! 2008″ Quick Results; Sapp, Cro Cop, Mousasi, Overeem, Manhoef, Aoki Score Wins


(Shockingly, this wasn’t the best fight of the night. Photo courtesy of CageWriter.

Total Bummer Update: The fight between DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hansen and Gesias Cavalcante was canceled. Hansen did not pass a pre-fight medical examination, reportedly due to a recent hospitalization for a head injury. So that sucks.

K-1 Youth Tournament
Reserve fight: Taishi Hiratsuka def. Daizo Sasaki via KO, 1:00 of round 2
Semi-final 1: Koya Urabe def. Tatsuya Kusakabe via TKO, 2:21 of round 3
Semi-final 2: Hiroya def. Shota Shimada via unanimous decision
Final: Hiroya def. Koya Urabe via unanimous decision

DREAM rules: Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa def. Errol Zimmerman via submission (toe-hold), 1:01 of round 1

K-1 rules: Artur Kyshenko def. Yoshihiro Sato via unanimous decision

DREAM rules: Daisuke Nakamura def. Hideo Tokoro via submission (armbar), 2:23 of round 1

DREAM rules: Andy Ologun def. Yukio Sakaguchi via KO, 3:52 of round 1

DREAM rules: Bob Sapp def. Akihito Tanaka (aka "Kinniku Mantaro") via TKO, 5:22 of round 1. Tanaka put Sapp in trouble early with takedowns and ground-and-pound, but Sapp was able to get to his feet and tag Kinnikuman with some of his big, wild punches against the ropes until the fight was stopped.

DREAM rules: Semmy Schilt def. Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga via submission (triangle choke), 5:31 of round 1

DREAM rules: Hayato Sakurai def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO, 7:01 of round 1

K-1 rules: Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kozo Takeda via TKO, 2:37 of round 1. Kawajiri dropped Takeda twice with punches in the first round, then once more with a flying knee. It was the first in a series of dominant victories by MMA fighters in kickboxing matches at Dynamite!! 2008.

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Gambling Addiction Enabler: K-1 Dynamite 2008


(Now that I think about it, Kinnikuman would fit in perfectly with the TapouT crew.  Somebody get Punk-Ass to bring the bus around and pick him up.)

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you really want to bet on K-1 Dynamite 2008 tonight, which you probably won’t get to watch until tomorrow and which may or may not turn out to be a total shitstorm.  First, you’re a crazy son of a bitch, you know that?  Second, we got you covered.  Here are the best odds on the ‘net, courtesy of BestFightOdds.com:

Joachim Hansen (+150) vs. Gesias Cavalcante (-105)
Kazushi Sakuraba (-125) vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (+120)
Eddie Alvarez (-105) vs. Shinya Aoki (+120)
Semmy Schilt (-531) vs. Siala Siliga (+450)
Hong Man Choi (+160) vs Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (-155)
Daisuke Nakamura (-110) vs. Hideo Tokoro (+135)
Alistair Overeem (+270) vs. Badr Hari (-250)

Thoughts…

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Sakuraba/Tamura, Hansen/JZ Announced for ‘Dynamite!! 2008′

Fileds K-1 DREAM Dynamite!! 2008 MMA Japan poster
(Image courtesy of Nightmare of Battle)

Two headlining matchups were announced today for DREAM and K-1′s combined “FieLDS Dynamite!!: Yuuki no Chikara 2008″ event, which will be held on New Year’s Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. In the main event spot will be Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba facing Kiyoshi Tamura. Sakuraba and Tamura are former UWFi pro wrestling stablemates who were previously supposed to fight each other in PRIDE, but the match never came together; there is a rumored rivalry between them dating back to Tamura’s disrespectful treatment of Sakuraba in the early ’90s when Tamura was a UWFi star and Sakuraba was a struggling up-and-comer. Tamura’s last ring appearance was a 57-second knockout victory over Masakatsu Funaki at DREAM 2 in April, while Sakuraba is coming off his brutal beating at the hands of Melvin Manhoef at DREAM 4 in June.

In the co-main event spot is a non-title fight between DREAM lightweight GP winner Joachim Hansen and highly regarded American Top Team fighter Gesias “JZ” Calvancante. Also on the card is a four-man K-1 tournament featuring Ryuya Kusakabe, Koya Urabe, Shota Shimada, and 16-year old Japanese kickboxing phenom “Hiroya“; check out some of his work here.

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Weekend Quote Roundup: Assassin, Predator, Hellboy + More

Anderson Silva James Irvin UFC MMA
(Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

“It was interesting…karma comes around. Honestly what I thought of it was that Karma’s a bitch with a red dress.” — Houston Alexander on James Irvin’s loss to Anderson Silva. Alexander also told TheMMANews that he’s renewed his UFC contract for an additional four fights.

“Joe Silva was telling me to lose some weight and gain some muscle. He said I need the UFC look.” — Roy Nelson on the UFC’s “No Fatties” policy. Luckily, Affliction is a judgment-free zone.

“We know how to beat Anderson Silva. The only way to beat him is to push the pace. Go forward all the time. You can’t let him get confident and comfortable in the centre of the Octagon. You have to push the pace for five minutes every round. If I do that, I can catch him. I’ll take care of him.” — Famous last words from Patrick Cote.

“I would fight any one of the UFC lightweights, but the problem is that I will never put my foot in the octagon after they (UFC) tried to be funny. I would rather have bleeding hemorrhoids than fight for the UFC. The Japanese MMA audience is the best in the world. They make magic! I would rather have one true Japanese MMA supporter than one million fake mainstream supporters that will turn their back on you as soon as you lose a fight. I don’t care about things that are mainstream.” — Joachim Hansen, who was offered half his contracted salary by the UFC after Zuffa bought PRIDE.

“I think that shot pretty much changed the whole dynamic of the fight. I sure would like to know what would have happened if it hadn’t landed. Once that right hand landed it was like I was fighting half blind, or pretty much blind at that point. It was all pretty much downhill from there. I just tried to come back and mount some type of offense. Unfortunately, I was never able to mount anything that significant…After getting rocked with a shot like that, and not being able to see, you’re more in survival mode.” — Heath Herring on the fight-opening punch from Brock Lesnar that sent him ass-over-teakettle.

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Hansen Wins DREAM.5 Lightweight GP; Overeem Taps Hunt


(Alvarez vs. Kawajiri: Fight of the Night. Props to MMA-Core.)

Chaos rules when it comes to single-night tournaments, and today’s DREAM.5 show in Osaka was marked by an unexpected twist — lightweight grand prix alternate Joachim Hansen defeated crowd-favorite Shinya Aoki in the finals to become DREAM’s first lightweight champion, following an eye injury suffered by Eddie Alvarez in his semifinal match.

The first semifinal bout was dominated by Aoki, who threw his entire bag of submissions at Caol Uno, threatening Uno repeatedly with chokes, leglocks and armbars. Uno hung in like a champ, but the judges made the obvious choice when the clock ran out, and an exhausted Aoki advanced to the finals.

In the second semifinal, the Philadelphia-based Eddie Alvarez proved that he should be counted among the world’s best lightweights, getting the best of Tatsuya Kawajiri in a thrilling slugfest. Alvarez suffered a cut under his right eye early by Kawajiri’s nasty power punches, but Alvarez dropped Kawajiri with his own. After time was called for Alvarez’s eye to be checked out, the fight-restarted with Kawajiri taking control again, punching Alvarez to the mat and swarming him from the top. Alvarez eventually got to his feet, taking heavy damage in return. But Alvarez battled back, throwing his fists until Kawajiri succumbed. Unfortunately, it was later announced that Alvarez wouldn’t be able to continue to the finals because his eye was swollen shut.

The tournament’s alternate bout saw Joachim Hansen withstand an early assault by Indian fighter Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill; Hellboy quickly regained control and put away his outmatched opponent via armbar at the 2:33 mark. Hansen, who had lost to Alvarez at the lightweight GP quarterfinals in May, would now be replacing him in the finals.

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‘Hellboy’ Returns, Hunt Likely for DREAM.5

Mark Hunt MMA
(The Super Samoan could make his DREAM debut this month.)

DREAM officials recently held a press conference announcing more matches for their fifth event (July 21st; Osaka, Japan). Along with the highly anticipated conclusion of their lightweight grand prix, a reserve match between Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen and Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill will take place in case one of the winning semi-finalists is unable to continue to the final round; Hansen defeated Kotetsu Boku in the GP’s opening round in March before dropping a decision to Eddie Alvarez in the quarterfinals, while Gill was bounced out of the first round by Tatsuya Kawajiri. Highly regarded middleweight Yoshihiro Akiyama will compete for the first time since his illegal soccer-kick KO of Kazuo Misaki at Yarennoka! last New Year’s Eve, taking on professional punching bag Katsuyori Shibata (2-4), who has dropped recent matches to Jason Miller and Kazushi Sakuraba.

DREAM.5 may also see the return of PRIDE/K-1 legend Mark Hunt, who was announced as a participant, though his opponent hasn’t been named yet. Hunt hasn’t competed in an MMA match since PRIDE Shockwave 2006 (12/31/06), when he was submitted by Fedor Emelianenko via kimura. And of course Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will be in a featured featherweight bout against 7-0 Sacramento native Joseph Benavidez. The full lineup is after the jump…

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Friday Link Dump

Fedor Emelianenko Hong Man Choi MMA

Luke Thomas weighs in (heavily) on our “Broken Jaws and Double Standards” article. (BloodyElbow)

— A first-hand account of Jesse Taylor’s Palace Station rampage, courtesy of Matt Riddle. (MMA Junkie)

— Brazilian PRIDE/Cage Rage vet (and Thiago Silva’s roommate) Edson Draggo just wrecked himself in a motorcycle accident. (Sherdog)

The next Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion event will go down September 19th, and will feature Kazuo Misaki, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, the winner of Thomson/Melendez, and (hopefully) Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. (MMARated)

— Ironically, the Shamrocks are the unluckiest clan in MMA. But that didn’t stop 18-year-old Lion’s Den product Jeff Shamrock (Ken’s nephew) from signing a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce. (FiveOuncesofPain)

“Lay and Pray” vs. “Hit and Run” (Fightlinker)

— Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen is looking for a sponsor. (Japan MMA)

8 countries with weak pesos but hot women. (WallStreetFighter)

Pictures of the chick that Mini-Me banged on that sex tape. OMFG, little Verne in his U of M onesie is presh! (Holy Taco)

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Videos: Kimbo, Sandman, Penn, and Vera in the Gym


Whoever’s in charge of video editing at Triumph United has incredible taste in music (though we would have probably chosen this jam for the soundtrack instead). If you’re not interested in seeing Kimbo Slice and Bas Rutten do some synchronized striking drills during a recent meet-and-greet at Elite MMA, we’d suggest skipping to the 1:54 mark to get your first taste of Kimbo workin’ it on the ground. Props to BloodyElbow. Also…

(James Irvin prepares for his UFC 85 fight against Rashad Evans at Fairtex Bangplee in Thailand. Props to MMAMania.)

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Kawajiri, Uno, Alvarez Advance at DREAM.3; Mayhem Clowns His Way to Victory

Jason Miller vs. Katsuyori Shibata
(Jason Miller keeps ‘em laughing against Katsuyori Shibata.)

DREAM.3 went down today in Saitama, Japan, with two upsets pulled off in the lightweight grand prix, while Nick Diaz, Jason Miller, and Melvin Manhoef all scored first-round TKOs. The night’s biggest surprise was the defeat of top-ten lightweight Mitsuhiro Ishida at the hands of Caol Uno — who had received a bye into the GP’s quarterfinals — by way of rear-naked choke early in the second round. Eddie Alvarez also took an unexpected win, grinding down Joachim Hansen over 15 minutes en route to a unanimous decision. The card’s other marquee names didn’t disappoint, with K-1 vet Melvin Manhoef demolishing Dae Won Kim, and Nick Diaz getting the better of Katsuya Inoue in a slugfest. But Jason Miller did his best to steal the show, entering the ring in Zubaz-esque tights for his fight against the completely outmatched Katsuyori Shibata, and repeatedly posing for the camera. Full results are below, and videos are after the jump.

Lightweight GP Quarterfinals
Caol Uno def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via rear-naked choke, 1:39 of round 2
Eddie Alvarez def. Joachim Hansen via unanimous decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino via unanimous decision

Welterweight Feature
Nick Diaz def. Katsuya Inoue via TKO (towel thrown), 6:47 of round 1

Middleweight GP Round 1
Jason Miller def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO, 6:07 of round 1

Middleweight GP Reserve Fight
Melvin Manhoef def. Kim Dae Won via TKO, 4:08 of round 1

Lightweight Features
Daisuke Nakamura def. Jung Bukyung, 1:15 of round 2
Takeshi Yamazaki def. Shoji Maruyama via unanimous decision

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Fight of the Day: Joachim Hansen vs. Koutetsu Boku

By far the best fight from Saturday’s DREAM show. Props to Boku for lasting 15 minutes with this animal…

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JZ+Aoki Headline DREAM 1 Fight Lineup

JZA
(Sorry bro, rock beats finger.)

Nightmare of Battle has the official fight order for Saturday’s highly-anticipated DREAM show. Notably, the fight between Gesias Calvancante and Shinya Aoki will headline the event, Cro Cop’s match with Tatsuya Mizuno will serve as a break between the first half of the lightweight tournament bouts and the second, and the opener will be Ikuhisa Minowa in an “open-weight” fight against a freak to be named tomorrow. Cutting it kind of close, huh? Anyway, the lineup goes like this:

Lightweight Tournament 1st Round (second group)
10. J.Z. Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Black Mamba (Kultar Gill)
8. Andre Dida vs. Eddie Alvarez

Heavyweight Feature
7. Mirko CroCop vs. Tatsuya Mizuno

Lightweight Tournament 1st Round (first group)
6. Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Jung Bu Kyung
5. Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Artur Umakhanov
4. Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Luis Buscape
3. Kotetsu Boku vs. Joachim Hansen

Welterweight Feature
2. Hayato Sakurai vs. Hidetaka Monma (correction: This fight isn’t part of the lightweight tournament, as we said yesterday. Props to reader “robnashville” for being smarter than us.)

Open Weight Fight
1. Minowaman vs. TBA

Christ, I’d give my left nipple to be at this show. Joachim Hansen could be a dark horse to win it all, though most likely the eventual winner will be the guy who survives Saturday’s main event. Calvancante’s utter domination of his past opponents make him the obvious front-runner, and he’s been working with Eddie Bravo to deal with Aoki’s rubber guard and straightjacket-like grappling. There are some interesting betting lines here, which list Ishida/Kyung-Jung as the biggest first-round mismatch (-1000/+550), Kawajiri as the favorite to win the entire tournament, and Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill as a laughable +3800 under-underdog to go all the way. Holler at a brotha’s comments section if you have any big predictions for the show…

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Fights of the Day: Masakazu Imanari vs. Robbie Olivier + Joachim Hansen

Masakazu Imanari’s featherweight title defense against Jean Silva at Saturday’s Cage Rage show seems to have been pulled from every video site on the Internet, so we’ll just post the video of how the “Ashikan Judan” (“10th-degree black belt in jumping locks,” or something) won the belt in the first place. Check out Imanari whiffing on two ridiculous flying kicks before tapping out Robbie Olivier with the kind of submission that earned him his nickname, at Cage Rage 20 in February 2007. Below that is Imanari taking one of his four career losses, at the hands of Joachim Hansen at PRIDE Bushido 8 (July 2005). Despite nearly pulling off one of his signature leglocks, Imanari eats a knee at the video’s 3:34 mark that’s so loud they could hear it in the next prefecture. Like a veteran home-run slugger making perfect contact with a fastball, Hansen just walks away, knowing it.

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Fight of the Day: Shinya Aoki vs. Joachim Hansen

We mentioned this one yesterday. Here’s Aoki’s dismantling of Hansen at PRIDE Shockwave 2006 (12/31/06), and though Aoki’s rainbow stretch-pants are ridiculous, his skills are no joke. Check out his Penn-like flexibility as he works for the ultra-rare gogoplata submission; in our opinion, there’s only six welterweights in the world who could deal with him…

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