Alvarez Outguns Hansen; Uno, Kawajiri Advance
Lightweights advance
Stephen Martinez May 11, 2008
SAITAMA, Japan -- After what seemed like a couple of false starts
with its first two shows, Dream made some ground Sunday toward
returning MMA in Japan to what it is supposed to be.
Nearly 22,000 fans showed up at the Saitama Super Arena to see Eddie Alvarez (Pictures), Caol Uno (Pictures) and Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) advance to the Dream lightweight grand prix semifinals, which will be set after Shinya Aoki (Pictures) fights Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures) in June.
New Shooto took on old Shooto in the main event, with the fight
world's favorite T-shirt salesman, Caol Uno (Pictures), facing T-Blood's Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures). Ishida used his dislike for
Uno's free pass to the second round of the tournament as his
motivation for training, but he got off on the wrong foot in the
fight with a low kick that caught Uno in the groin.
After taking a moment to recover, Uno quickly started getting the best of the exchanges. He landed with hooks and also an uppercut that caught Ishida right on the tip of the nose, prompting a doctor's check.
In the second it was back on forth on the feet for a moment. Ishida then managed to get Uno's back and started looking for a takedown. With a flash of brilliance, Uno quickly used a kimura on his opponent's grip to escape and land in mount.
Then, during a scramble, Uno sunk in a slick rear-naked choke without his hooks for the tap at 1:39 in the second.
"It was a really fun fight, and I am just glad that I won," Uno said. "He had momentum as an up-and-coming fighter, so that's why I accepted the fight. My impression of him is unchanged. He was aggressive and intense, just as I expected."
Joachim Hansen (Pictures) did not intimidate the fast-rising Eddie Alvarez (Pictures) in their hotly contested bout. In what was clearly the fight of the night, Alvarez got off to an excellent start by landing a low kick and a hard right hook on the chin that dropped the Norwegian.
After surviving by tying up his opponent on the ground with a high guard, Hansen came close with an armbar. Alvarez muscled out, though, and got back to his feet.
Hansen then began pressing forward again, now with a clear head, and bloodied the nose of the Fight Factory product. Alvarez had plenty of answers however, darting in with effective jabs and landing hooks. The American's power clearly troubled Hanson, who opted to cover up rather than employ his usual chin-forward, chest-beating style.
Hansen again found himself on the bottom after a trip attempt failed. He landed two hard heel kicks that dazed Alvarez, and then another standup exchange brought fans to their feet just before the round ended.
In the second Hansen scored a sweep following another missed takedown. Using an underhook from side control and allowing his opponent to get to his knees, Hansen applied an unorthodox cutting armbar from the back that looked very close. Again, though, Alvarez's power freed him and he got the better of the striking exchanges that came next.
In the closing sequences of the fight, Hansen took his man down with a throw from a kimura and turned it into an armbar. Hansen had the armbar fully extended for a moment, but Alvarez completed another escape and finished the fight winning another trade on the feet.
All three judges awarded the win to Alvarez, who is already a crowd favorite in Japan. After the fight Hansen said Alvarez is the toughest man he has ever fought -- quite a compliment from someone who has fought nearly every top lightweight in the game.
Alvarez also praised Hansen: "I knew that with someone like Joachim, with his style of fighting, it would lead to us having a match like that. I am just glad that he brought the game that he brought tonight, and we were able to clash heads and put on a show for everyone tonight."
In another lightweight tournament match, Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) gave Luiz Firmino (Pictures) more than he could handle for a second time and grinded out a decision. Firmino constantly tried for takedowns, but Kawajiri proved too good, constantly landing on top and scoring with strikes and knees.
Despite taking Kawajiri's back once in the second, Firmino's wrestling was never good enough to threaten the Japanese fighter and he was unable to come close with any submissions while on his back.
Later, Kawajiri challenged Uno (Uno had defeated Kawajiri's T-Blood teammate Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures)).
"I can understand how he feels," Uno said of Kawajiri's challenge. "It's not fun. It's really very normal and human, this reaction. I have no special feelings about it and it was right after the fight, so I couldn't really respond properly to him. But I will think about his challenge. We'll have to wait until Nagata and Aoki fight, so we can't talk about the next round. If he becomes my opponent, I will definitely take the challenge."
Nearly 22,000 fans showed up at the Saitama Super Arena to see Eddie Alvarez (Pictures), Caol Uno (Pictures) and Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) advance to the Dream lightweight grand prix semifinals, which will be set after Shinya Aoki (Pictures) fights Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures) in June.
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After taking a moment to recover, Uno quickly started getting the best of the exchanges. He landed with hooks and also an uppercut that caught Ishida right on the tip of the nose, prompting a doctor's check.
The two continued to trade on the feet with Uno getting the best of
his opponent. Ishida eventually secured a takedown and came close
to landing an armbar by using the same counter to a kimura that
Matt Hughes (Pictures) used to submit St. Pierre in
their first fight. Uno escaped, however, and continued to hold the
standup advantage until Ishida took him down again to close out the
round.
In the second it was back on forth on the feet for a moment. Ishida then managed to get Uno's back and started looking for a takedown. With a flash of brilliance, Uno quickly used a kimura on his opponent's grip to escape and land in mount.
Then, during a scramble, Uno sunk in a slick rear-naked choke without his hooks for the tap at 1:39 in the second.
"It was a really fun fight, and I am just glad that I won," Uno said. "He had momentum as an up-and-coming fighter, so that's why I accepted the fight. My impression of him is unchanged. He was aggressive and intense, just as I expected."
Joachim Hansen (Pictures) did not intimidate the fast-rising Eddie Alvarez (Pictures) in their hotly contested bout. In what was clearly the fight of the night, Alvarez got off to an excellent start by landing a low kick and a hard right hook on the chin that dropped the Norwegian.
After surviving by tying up his opponent on the ground with a high guard, Hansen came close with an armbar. Alvarez muscled out, though, and got back to his feet.
Hansen then began pressing forward again, now with a clear head, and bloodied the nose of the Fight Factory product. Alvarez had plenty of answers however, darting in with effective jabs and landing hooks. The American's power clearly troubled Hanson, who opted to cover up rather than employ his usual chin-forward, chest-beating style.
Hansen again found himself on the bottom after a trip attempt failed. He landed two hard heel kicks that dazed Alvarez, and then another standup exchange brought fans to their feet just before the round ended.
In the second Hansen scored a sweep following another missed takedown. Using an underhook from side control and allowing his opponent to get to his knees, Hansen applied an unorthodox cutting armbar from the back that looked very close. Again, though, Alvarez's power freed him and he got the better of the striking exchanges that came next.
In the closing sequences of the fight, Hansen took his man down with a throw from a kimura and turned it into an armbar. Hansen had the armbar fully extended for a moment, but Alvarez completed another escape and finished the fight winning another trade on the feet.
All three judges awarded the win to Alvarez, who is already a crowd favorite in Japan. After the fight Hansen said Alvarez is the toughest man he has ever fought -- quite a compliment from someone who has fought nearly every top lightweight in the game.
Alvarez also praised Hansen: "I knew that with someone like Joachim, with his style of fighting, it would lead to us having a match like that. I am just glad that he brought the game that he brought tonight, and we were able to clash heads and put on a show for everyone tonight."
In another lightweight tournament match, Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) gave Luiz Firmino (Pictures) more than he could handle for a second time and grinded out a decision. Firmino constantly tried for takedowns, but Kawajiri proved too good, constantly landing on top and scoring with strikes and knees.
Despite taking Kawajiri's back once in the second, Firmino's wrestling was never good enough to threaten the Japanese fighter and he was unable to come close with any submissions while on his back.
Later, Kawajiri challenged Uno (Uno had defeated Kawajiri's T-Blood teammate Mitsuhiro Ishida (Pictures)).
"I can understand how he feels," Uno said of Kawajiri's challenge. "It's not fun. It's really very normal and human, this reaction. I have no special feelings about it and it was right after the fight, so I couldn't really respond properly to him. But I will think about his challenge. We'll have to wait until Nagata and Aoki fight, so we can't talk about the next round. If he becomes my opponent, I will definitely take the challenge."
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