Joachim Hansen

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career and Shooto
3 PRIDE
4 DREAM
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen (born May 26, 1979) is a Norwegian professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt.

He stands 5 ft. 10 in. (178 cm) tall and fights in the lightweight division (155 lbs.).

Hansen is a PRIDE veteran and the currently fights for the Japan based, DREAM organization where he is the lightweight champion.

Early Career and Shooto

Joachim Hansen made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Marcus Peltonen at a FinnFight event on November 6, 1999. He stopped his opponent with strikes at the 1:38 mark of round 1.

He was not so fortunate in his second professional bout as he was submitted by Jani Lax in another bout under the FinnFight banner.

After going 1-0-1 in his next two bouts, Hansen flew over to Japan where he competed at Shooto's 2002 end of year show. He faced Japanese fighter, Takumi Nakayama and defeated the more experienced opponent via majority decision.

His performance caught the eye of Japanese legend, Rumina Sato who challenged him to a bout which took place three months later. Hansen impressed as he stopped Sato with punches at the 2:09 mark of round 1.

The Sato victory earned him a shot at the Shooto welterweight title held by 14-0, Takanori Gomi. In a big upset, Hansen defeated Gomi by a somewhat disputed majority decision after three rounds.

He was unable to defend his Shooto title though as he was tapped out by another undefeated fighter in Vitor Ribeiro in December of 2003.

Hansen returned to Finland where he picked up a TKO victory before heading back to Shooto in Japan to take on dynamic Brazilian, Gesias Cavalcante. In another disputed majority decision, Hansen was once again declared the victor.

After submitting Sergey Golyaev with a rear naked choke in the US in October of 2004, Hansen picked up another high quality victory when he knocked out UFC veteran, Caol Uno at a K-1 Hero's bout in March, 2005.

PRIDE

With a 12-2-1 record that feature a number of high profile scalps, Hansen recieved a call up to the PRIDE Fighting Championships's Bushido series. He made his PRIDE debut at PRIDE: Bushido 8 when he knocked out Japanese grappler, Masakazu Imanari with a knee in the first round.

After scoring a decision win in the Shooto organization, Hansen entered the 2005 PRIDE Bushido lightweight tournament which began at PRIDE: Bushido 9. In the opening round, Hansen defeated UFC veteran, Yves Edwards via razor thin split decision.

Later that night, Hansen went down via unanimous decision to Hayato Sakurai in the semi-finals.

Hansen once again headed back to the Shooto organization, this time to challenge for the Shooto welterweight title held by tough as nails Japanese fighter, Tatsuya Kawajiri. The fight only lasted 8 seconds and ended via disqualification after Hansen landed a kick to Kawajiri's groin.

Hansen got back in the win column at PRIDE: Bushido 10 when he knocked Luiz Azeredo cold with a knee in the first round.

At PRIDE: Shockwave 2006, Hansen faced off against Japanese grappling sensation, Shinya Aoki. Aoki was all over Hansen on the ground, eventually securing him a rare gogoplata submission which forced the tap at the 2:24 mark of the first round.

In Hansen's last bout for the PRIDE organization, he submitted Jason Ireland at PRIDE 33 with an armbar in the third round.

DREAM

In November of 2007, Hansen went down in a majority decision to Eiji Mitsuoka in a Shooto bout. That fight was followed by an appearance at K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!!, the year end show for the K-1 organization. He submitted opponent Kazuyuki Miyata with a rear naked choke in the second round.

Hansen began 2008 by signing with the newly created, Japan based, DREAM organization and was selected as one of the 15 participants in their 2008 lightweight Grand Prix.

At DREAM 1, he faced Koutetsu Boku in the opening round of the grand prix and picked up a unanimous decision after two rounds.

In the quarter finals, held at DREAM 3, Hansen faced American, Eddie Alvarez. In a bout that many thought was "Fight of the Year", the two went to war for the full 15 minutes. Alvarez got the better of the first 10 as he dropped Hansen twice, however the second round was a complete opposite as Hansen dominated on the ground, nearly submitting Alvarez with an armbar. When the decision came back it was a clear unanimous decision victory for Alvarez.

Hansen returned to action at DREAM 5 in an alternate bout with Kultar Gill. Hansen made quick work of Gill, submitting him with an armbar at just 2:45 of round 1.

In a strange turn of events, Eddie Alvarez was forced to pull out the final bout due to facial injuries sustained in his semi-final KO of Tatsuya Kawajiri earlier in the night. With Alvarez and Kawajiri unable to participate, Hansen was called in to face Shinya Aoki in the final in a rematch from their 2006 bout. Hansen surprised everyone as he overwhelmed Aoki with punches on the ground just over four minutes in, earning himself a TKO victory and the DREAM 2008 lightweight Grand Prix title and the DREAM lightweight championship.

Hansen was scheduled to take on Gesias Cavalcante at K-1: Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008 but a head injury sustained just prior to fight time prompted his removal.