DREAM.5: Joachim Hansen wins Lightweight Grand Prix in Japan
July 21, 2008 by Sam Caplan
DREAM.5 is in the books. I didn’t get to see the entire event, but from what I did see, I was pretty impressed. Really good action. HDNet was also live at the venue in Osaka and the broadcast was strong. It really makes a huge difference being there in person as opposed to commentating in a studio. Here are the full results from today’s event:
– Daisuke Nakamura submits Andy Ologun with an armbar at 3:41 of Rd 1
– Lightweight GP Semifinal: Shinya Aoki via Unanimous Decision over Caol Uno
– Lightweight GP Semifinal: Eddie Alvarez TKO’s (strikes) Tatsuya Kawajiri at 7:35 of Rd 1. This was a really strong fight. Alvarez dropped Kawajiri with a right cross and thought he had won via knockout. The fight was not called so after raising his arms in victory, Alvarez jumped on a downed Kawajiri and hit him until the ref finally called a halt. The problem was, that earlier in the fight Alvarez caught a punch from Kawajiri that grazed him. Towards the end of the punch, Alvarez caught a grazing elbow. There was a minor cut and severe swelling to Alvarez’s right eye. DREAM doctors decided later in the show that he could not continue.
— Lightweight GP Tournament Reserve Match: Joachim Hansen submits Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill with an armbar at 2:42 of Rd 1. Hansen advanced to the tournament final after DREAM’s doctors would not allow Alvarez to continue. The doctors made the right call but an emotional Alvarez wanted to continue. Between fights later in the show, he told commentators Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten that he wanted to continue and pleaded with doctors. He stated that since Aoki was a submission specialist and not a puncher, that the eye wouldn’t come into play. During the announcement to the live crowd, Alvarez spoke to the audience and said the injury was unfortunate but that there was nobody he’d rather see take his spot than Hansen. The crowd reacted very strong to Alvarez, who looked like he teared up at one point.
– Joseph Benavidez submits Junya Kudo at 2:42 of Rd 1. Benavidez had been slated to face Kid Yamamoto, who was taken off the card earlier this week with a knee injury. Benavidez is now 8-0. He trains out of Urijah Faber’s gym in Sacramento, Calif. and Faber did an interview with Rice and Rutten between one of the fights. He really believes in Benavidez and considers him one of the top bantamweights in the world. Faber said he feels that getting a win on such a high-profile card in Japan will open up new opportunities for Benavidez. With Yamamoto on the shelf for an extended period of time, might a shot at the WEC be in the cards?
– Kuniyoshi Hironaka TKO’s (cut) Motoki Miyazawa at 8:57 of Rd 1
– Hideo Tokoro defeats Takeshi Yamazaki via Unanimous Decision
– Yoshihiro Akiyama submits Katsuyori Shibata at 6:34 of Rd 1 with a choke. Akiyama was allowed to wear a Gi. I know at one point Gis were legal in PRIDE, but didn’t they change the rule? I also had thought Gis were going to be illegal in DREAM? The announcers were kind of caught off-guard that Akiyama was wearing a Gi as well. They brought up the Sakuraba fight in which it was deemed that Akiyama had too much lubrication on his body. So because of that, he’s allowed to wear the Gi? I bring this up because Akiyama grabbed his own sleeve during the choke on Yamazaki. How many breaks is Akiyama going to get before he has to sink or swim on his own? I also don’t understand the repeated use of Shibata as a sacrificial lamb. Maybe he’ll be a good fighter one day, but he’s very green right now. Why do they keep using him in mis-matches?
– Alistair Overeem submits Mark Hunt with a keylock/shoulder lock in Rd 1. I don’t have the exact time, but it might have been less than a minute. Hunt landed a haymaker and the momentum knocked Overeem to the ground. Hunt followed the fight to the floor and got a little ground and pound in but Overeem had good hip movement and was setting up a submission the whole time. He apparently was on vacation when he got the call to take the fight a week ago. He weighed in at about 235 lbs. while Rice indicated that Hunt had weighed in over 290 lbs. This was a big win for the Strikeforce heavyweight champion.
– Lightweight GP Final: Joachim Hansen TKO’s (strikes) Shinya Aoki in Rd 1.
I don’t have the exact time, but the end came within the first five minutes. Aoki wanted the fight on the ground and pulled guard at one point. He worked the rubber guard and looked like he was close to catching Hansen. However, Hansen got loose and stacked Aoki and then started landing some stiff shots from the top. He hit Aoki with a big punch and Aoki stopped defending himself, forcing the referee to step in and stop it. Alvarez joined Hansen’s corner in the celebration. Prior to the fight, he had also challenged the winner. Hansen vs. Alvarez II for the DREAM lightweight title? Sounds like a plan to me.
This was a great show. I just wish Eddie could have fought in the finals. But just like he said if it couldnt be him I’m glad it was Hellboy.
Fell asleep right at 2am. Dammit.
JZ is first in line to challenge Hansen if he recovers fast enough because he was the HERO’s LW champ
Fuckin’ Grand Prix sucks when they make a guy fight 2 times in one night and this is why. I like Aoki but he lost. But now he has an excuse his fans can hang on. I want to see Aoki/Alvarez for the real LW “Grand Prix” winner.
Yeah I agree with ya #1. I wish Eddie could have finished the show but just like #3 said this is what happens when people have to fight more than once in one night. Hellboy is a great fighter and I think he deserves it. I guess he got his revenge for the gogoplata Shinya got him in awhile back.
Aoki wanted no part of Hellboy’s punches. Eddie would have taken his head off. Kinda lame to see tapout to strikes that were grazing him.
Semis and Finals should not be on the same night. Alvarez would have wrecked Aoki.
Shinya Aoki Won, what event were you guys watching.
Gogo
People seem to forget Aoki gogoplata submission on Hansen in Pride. Hansen fought a 3 minute fight when Aoki won a decision vs Uno which you know had to take a ton of energy to win. They should have done away with the 2 fights a night thing a long time ago and this is why. You have 1 of the finalists that can’t go on because of a cut, then you have 1 who had a quick win vs one who had a grinded out victory. Still good fights and it’s not really an excuse because they knew the system, but I still think Aoki typically beats Hansen (and I’m a fan of both). I would rather see a Aoki vs Alvarez winner faces Hansen.
For people who think Alvarez would wreck Aoki like the guy above, they must have forgotten the JZ fight…and JZ is basically a better version of Alvarez. It would be a good fight and it could go either way with Alvarez’s punching power and Aoki’s slick subs.
what???
so who ended up winning?..i will download the event tonight, cant believe i spoiled it for myself.
my question is, since aoki won and eddie won, and eddie couldnt continue, why didnt the first chance be given to kawajiri, the guy eddie defeated?..him being japanese and all couldnt hurt. this is what happened in the GP that misaki won, since filho couldnt continue.
are the rules different than in pride GPs ?…i wouldve liked to see kawajiri vs aoki more..since to me kawajiri seemed like the deserved the shot more because he got further in the GP.
“JZ is basically a better version of Alvarez” except Alvarez has better footwork and is more explosive.
That is how the tournament works, the alternate will fight. But I do understand your point, that is simply the rules in Japan.
as fans we all put a huge emphasis on a fighter’s ability to win tourneys and grand prix…just because your favorite fighter didn’t win does not mean that the grand prix system is bad…it just means that your favorite fighter didn’t have what it takes to go all the way….
“JZ is first in line to challenge Hansen if he recovers fast enough because he was the HERO’s LW champ”
Yeah, not Alvarez who won his semi-final match only to bow out to injury so a fighter he has already beaten can advance and win the tournament.
ah…saw the event results on sherdog, shinya lost in the final, if you downloaded the fights out of order its probably really confusing as to who actually won the GP
Thanks for the outcomes! Hansen is a tough fighter.
Good to see a lightweight with genuine knockout power.
#4: If Aoki fans want an excuse then how about he had Hellboy on his back, Hellboy up-kicks him in the balls (fairly blatant that, its not too close to the face now is it?) and when they resume theyre both standing which is an obvious advantage to Hellboy.
I fairly sure we can all agree that there’ll be some mint lightweight match ups in upcoming dream events. long live pride.
My bet is that NYE will produce some epic DREAM matchups, including belt defenses and Fedor
This event was awesome, just wish that they would have let him go on. He said he was able to fight himself. Man that Alvarez is a great fighter and world class as a person also. I beleive he owns the top two fights of the year nominations with the fight he had in this and also aginst hell boy hansen in dream 4
yes, definately a great event, and possibly could be better then the UFC or affliction shows. certainly had exciting fights. Sam, i know you had a post months ago about possibly putting Alvarez in your top 10 LW’s, i would hav to think there isn’t any question now. I guess the only question is how high do you want to put him. you have to think Aoki would have had trouble with Alvarez as well.
you know, i was rootin’ for hellboy from the beginning..
but, seeing as how he originally lost.. i’m not so happy he won the whole thing..
it just seems wrong, you know? because, these guys went the whole way without losing.. and then, Eddie isn’t passed to compete, and Aoki gets beat up because he’s tired and energy-drained..
it just seems like they were both robbed..
but, I AM glad they picked him.. beacuse, just like everyone else, there’s no one i’d rather see take Eddie’s spot than Joachim..
I’m calling it right now… show of the year. Fantastic ground work, amazing striking, and OMG what a plot twist with Alvarez getting pulled from the grand prix!! Hansen’s win, at least to me, was just short of absolutely epic. I honestly hope that people have Alvarez and Hansen on their top-10 lists now.
yep, while the majority of fanboys whine about Affliction vs the UFC I’ll just quietly watch DREAMS and the WEC put on the best cards…
Aoki fucing suck i hope people finally see that
to be fair, there were some terribly terribly boring fights on the DREAM card…pretty much all the japanese vs japanese fights.
Aoki vs. Uno was an amazing fight to me. That was some amazing defensive work from Uno and some amazing sub work from Aoki.
I do wonder why the Japanese fighters tend to fail when put against foreign competitors; the only thing I can think of is most of them look like they could be fighting a couple of weight classes down if they cut weight as effectively as UFC fighters.
Also, did Overeem gain a ton of weight or am I confusing him with his brother?
@Zack with a ck
“to be fair, there were some terribly terribly boring fights on the DREAM card…pretty much all the japanese vs japanese fights.”
Thats like saying there are to many American vs American on UFC cards. If you think it was boring, do us a favor and don’t watch DREAM and don’t comment on it.
hansen is so awesome! but he is so small for 160. he should drop down to 145. i actually think he is top 10 p4p.