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accountabillabuddy
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Bergen, Norway
Posts: 2,642
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DREAM 5 fighters analyze wins & losses
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OSAKA, Japan -- Despite predictions from fans and pundits alike, none of the original four Dream lightweight grand prix semifinalists found their way into the victory circle at Dream 5. Instead, perennial fan favorite and tournament alternate Joachim Hansen (Pictures) unexpectedly realized his own dreams at Osaka Castle Hall on Monday.
Hansen won a reserve bout against Kultar “Black Mamba” Gill and then stopped Shinya Aoki (Pictures) on strikes in the final after Eddie Alvarez (Pictures) was forced to withdraw from the competition with an eye injury.
“I was only thinking about the ‘Black Mamba’ fight, and then all this stuff happened for what became a strange night,” Hansen said. “But I’m still happy.”
The beginning of Aoki’s end came when Hansen stood inside his guard and landed a devastating left hand to the grappler’s jaw. Aoki curled into the fetal position, and Hansen blasted him with lefts and rights until the fight was stopped.
“[For] the finishing move, I was standing up on top, and I had to watch out for his upkicks because he was kicking me real good,” Hansen said. “I was thinking [that] all I had to do was land one really good shot, so I took some time to aim before firing.”
Aoki and Hansen had met once previously, as the Japanese standout defeated the Norwegian by gogoplata submission in 2006. Hansen learned from his mistakes.
“I was uncomfortable with his rubber guard,” Hansen said. “I think most people who fight him are aware of his guard game, but I got good instructions from my sparring partner, Antonio [Carvalho], there, and it worked.”
Hansen also addressed comments he made at the conclusion of his bout with Gill, as he had dedicated the fight to two people battling cancer.
“My boxing trainer’s mother is struggling with cancer, and I was also visiting a fan in the hospital who supports me and is struggling with cancer,” he said. “Because I was pretty scared and nervous before the fight, I was thinking, ‘You know, they are the ones who are really fighting.’”
Meanwhile, Dream promoter Keiichi Sasahara answered questions regarding why Hansen -- and not Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) -- was used as an injury replacement in the final. Kawajiri lost to Alvarez by TKO in the tournament semifinals.
“It’s written in our regulations that in the case of a submission, a fighter eliminated in the [semi]finals will be allowed to continue, but [Kawajiri] was knocked out,” Sasahara said. “The first priority was to Kawajiri, but that was eliminated [when he was knocked out].”
Exhaustion costs Aoki in final; damage superficial for Alvarez
Clad in Osaka food culture’s kuidaore-inspired red and white spats, Aoki dominated UFC veteran Caol Uno (Pictures) in the Dream lightweight grand prix, as he put on yet another outstanding display of mat technique during their tournament semifinal. An exhausted Aoki changed into his yellow and black pants before meeting Hansen, and while the in-ring attire had proven helpful in previous bouts, it appeared to be less effective in his rematch with the Norwegian.
“Uno is a great fighter, and I gave everything in my fight with him,” Aoki said. “Honestly, I think he’s really strong. I was exhausted coming into the Hansen bout, so today, maybe Uno was it for me.”
Aoki remains interested in competing in future tournaments, though he admitted doing so might not be in his best interest.
“That’s a very difficult question to answer, but regarding whether I will want to participate or not, I think I will participate,” he said. “I intend to regroup and rebuild, and then try it once more.”
The 25-year-old Aoki credited Hansen for a stellar performance, particularly his ability to finish. It was the first time he had been stopped in almost four years.
“At first, I was thinking I would survive, but then I was getting pounded on,” Aoki said. “I thought, ‘This is dangerous, but I don’t want to get stopped.’ Then, I got stopped.”
Alvarez -- whom Hansen replaced in the final -- had to be taken to the hospital for evaluation and was unable to make it backstage to comment on his potential “Fight of the Year” performance against Kawajiri or his being replaced by Hansen.
“To the Japanese fans, thank you for tonight,” Alvarez wrote in a prepared statement. “The doctor stop was very disappointing to me, but next time, I want to return to Dream to challenge Joachim Hansen (Pictures). I’ll be back soon after my injury is healed to see you all again in Japan.”
Alvarez’s medical evaluation proved positive, as the lightweight later confirmed that he had suffered no serious damage to the orbital bone or to his vision.
Kawajiri, Uno share disappointment, uncertainty
Typically humble and self-critical of his performances, win or lose, Kawajiri was particularly harsh on himself during his post-fight interview. Despite appearing to have done more visible damage to Alvarez than Alvarez had done to him, Kawajiri expressed frustration over a foiled gameplan after he was knocked out by the American.
“Honestly, I thought I could have won on the feet,” he said. “I was controlling the fight. My weakness is that I can’t finish people off, like in the [Gilbert] Melendez fight, so that’s why I believe I am not yet a top fighter.
“I’d say that I did what I trained and my punches hit him well, so to some extent I am satisfied but not 100 percent,” Kawajiri added. “I set up my power punches with the jabs, and when he came in, I countered him well, I thought. That was my gameplan, and I think I did well by it.”
Kawajiri cast some doubt on a possible time frame for his return. The 30-year-old lightweight had defeated Gill and Luiz Firmino (Pictures) to advance in the tournament.
“I don’t know what will happen to me,” Kawajiri said. “I’m not sure if I can fight in the Dream ring again, but I’ve got my homework, so I’ll just rest and continue to work on things to improve upon myself. Until then, it’s probably meaningless to fight anymore.”
Caol Uno (Pictures) shared similar thoughts following his semifinal loss to Aoki.
“Frankly, I’m disappointed with myself. That’s it,” he said. “I couldn’t fight my fight, and that’s why I lost.”
Stifled by Aoki’s control, Uno was dominated to such an extent that the thought of surrender passed through his mind at various points in the match.
“Several times during the fight, I felt that I wanted to give up, but I couldn’t quit because I thought of all the people who were supporting me,” Uno said. “I just continued to keep moving and trying to escape, to try and make things difficult for my opponent.”
Benavidez wants in on tournament; Faber optimistic about ‘Kid’ bout
Joseph Benavidez (Pictures) made a successful promotional debut at Dream 5, as well, as he choked out Junya Kudo (Pictures) -- a late replacement for Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto -- by guillotine 2:42 into the first round.
“It really feels like all the hard work has paid off to fight in a show like Dream,” the undefeated Benavidez said. “It feels like the culmination of all the hard work, the sacrifices, the time I put in [at] the gym. This is what I dreamed of, and this is what I think I was born for.”
Benavidez’s mentor, World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Urijah Faber (Pictures), expressed pride in his performance.
“I was really happy with Joseph’s performance,” Faber said. “I know how tough he is because I’ve been hit by him, choked by him, and I’ve wrestled him everyday, and that’s why I was confident of him going up against ‘Kid.’”
On a 14-fight winning streak, the once-beaten Yamamoto withdrew from the event with a knee injury. Benavidez expressed disappointment in a lost opportunity.
“When I first got to Japan, I was doing all these interviews about fighting ‘Kid’ Yamamoto, and that’s when I suddenly realized, ‘Holy cow, I’m fighting here in Japan, and it’s a huge deal,’” he said. “And right after I realized that, it was taken away from me.”
Faber also responded to questions regarding his own desire to face Yamamoto at some point. He remains confident a bout between the two will happen.
“I’d like my guys to have the opportunity first, though, and I have some of the best guys in the world on my team,” Faber said. “I feel like, ‘Let [Yamamoto] beat Joseph first, and then we’ll see if he can even hold a torch to me.’ [Benavidez is] a whirling dervish … ‘Reno,’ we call him -- the biggest little man in the world. You’ve seen a little bit of that today, and he still hasn’t really been challenged in his career. I think that when they fight, and whether Joseph wins or ‘Kid’ wins, either way, I’d still like to fight ‘Kid’ at some point.”
Benavidez also addressed his potential participation in next year’s rumored Dream featherweight grand prix.
“I want [Dream] to be my home, and I love the tournament style, so it’d be awesome to participate in the featherweight tournament,” he said. “Like I said, I want to be a champion, and that’s what’s going to get me there.”
Akiyama remains everyone’s favorite heel
It was a bit of a homecoming for Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures), as the biggest heel in Japan chose to wear a gi for his fight against professional wrestler Katsuyori Shibata (Pictures).
“When I was a judo player, I had a match here in Osaka Castle Hall, and I lost,” Akiyama said. “I wanted to have redemption for that. When the venue was decided, that’s when I decided on the gi.”
Vilified for previous transgressions in Olympic Judo and in MMA, Akiyama reacted with a smile when asked about his ability to draw the ire of Japanese MMA fans, particularly those in his hometown of Osaka.
“I think I’m the only fighter in MMA who receives boos like this,” Akiyama said. “I just want to play the role that was created for me to help enhance the atmosphere of the fights.”
Akiyama then took the opportunity to challenge Kiyoshi Tamura (Pictures).
“He’s the one who has been complaining about me the most,” Akiyama said. “In the magazines, he’s complained about my fights, my friends and me, so like everyone else wants, I’d like to settle this with him myself.”
Sasahara seemed open to a potential Akiyama-Tamura bout, though he has other plans for the controversial judoka, too.
“They are in the same weight division, so it would be an interesting matchup,” Sasahara said. “However, personally, I want to make matches beyond [Akiyama’s] weight division, because he’s such a strong fighter. I think he can beat heavier fighters. I can’t think of any specific names, but the winner of the middleweight tournament is one possible opponent, while another possible opponent is someone heavier.”
Shibata, who tapped out to Akiyama’s Ezekiel choke 6:34 into the first round, had much less to say, apologizing for his performance before storming out of the interview room.
Miscellaneous notes
Like many of the Japanese fighters at Dream 5, Hideo Tokoro (Pictures) apologized for what he considered a subpar performance, despite the fact that he earned a unanimous decision against Cage Force featherweight tournament semifinalist and Deep standout Takeshi Yamazaki (Pictures). Tokoro complimented his opponent’s skills, claiming that though he controlled the action on the feet, he was afraid to get too adventurous on the canvas for fear of being reversed.
Yamazaki, also dissatisfied with his performance, blamed the loss on not “going for the win.” While his face was swollen and mostly hidden under a bag of ice, Yamazaki claimed he had no serious injuries after the fight. That news was met with a sigh of relief by many, as Yamazaki will continue his run in the Cage Force featherweight tournament later this year.
Elsewhere, Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (Pictures) -- who defeated Mark Hunt (Pictures) with a kimura a little more than a minute into the first round -- told reporters he received the call to fight the heavyweight hulk while vacationing on a beach in Thailand. Without any proper training for the bout, Overeem accepted the match and managed to pull out a quick submission victory over the Samoan before taking any real damage. As such, Overeem took the opportunity to once again call out 2006 Pride open-weight grand prix champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, who has allegedly turned down a fight with Overeem several times before.
A dejected Hunt expressed his disappointment at being unable to put his jiu-jitsu training into practice in the ring, despite having trained with Gracie Barra Sydney representative Marcelo Rezende. Hunt conceded he was unsure whether or not he would be able to continue competing inside the Dream promotion given his performance.
Sasahara, meanwhile, saw Dream 5 as a success but admitted the promotion had more ground to cover and needed to raise its profile within Japan before branching out to other countries. He hinted at the possibility of three more events this year, including a show on New Year’s Eve. Sashara commented briefly on Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures)’s incredible performance against Tim Sylvia (Pictures) at Affliction: Banned over the weekend. Many expect him to pursue the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight champion’s services for the New Year’s Eve show.
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