Top Shootors Go Back Their Roots
Hansen vs. Mitsuoka
Jordan Breen Nov 7, 2007
Joachim
Hansen (Pictures) (15-5-1) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (Pictures) (11-5-2)
Amongst a host of raw deals stemming from Zuffa's buyout of PRIDE, Joachim Hansen (Pictures) got one of the rawest of all. After inking a new lengthy deal with Dream Stage Entertainment and promptly owning Jason Ireland (Pictures), suddenly he was effectively unemployed. While Zuffa reportedly made him an offer to head to the Octagon, Hansen balked at the invite, stating that the dollar figure they offered was half of the fight purse in the deal he had signed with PRIDE.
For MMA's foremost viking, the solution seemed obvious: Rather than
fight in the UFC for half your expected purse, take a fight in
Shooto Japan for a tenth of it.
Okay, well, while Hansen may not be your first choice as an accountant or a stockbroker, he happens to be a pretty damn good lightweight. Since he burst onto the scene in early 2003 with his epic curb-stomping of Rumina Sato (Pictures) and subsequent upset of then-undefeated Shooto world champ Takanori Gomi (Pictures), "Hellboy" has remained amongst the lightweight elite. But his last trip to the Shooto ring was a pretty lousy one, as he was disqualified for a low blow on Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) in only eight seconds. And against Shooto 168-pound champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) on New Year's Eve, he was the recipient of the gogoplata that kicked off a rubber guard craze that has seen Brad Imes (Pictures) turn into Mr. Fantastic. Clearly, the man has an axe to grind.
Mitsuoka is perhaps most known for his PRIDE appearances, both in the short-lived series The Best and in PRIDE Bushido. Over the first four and a half years of his career that encompass those appearances, Mitsuoka was a fairly mediocre fighter. However, over the last two years or so, he has improved considerably in all facets. While he'll still be a considerable underdog against the highly regarded and highly dangerous Hansen, he is at least now a talented fighter who has the skills to respectably compete against top dogs.
The striking engagement should prove to be interesting. Both fighters are southpaws, somewhat of a rarity in mixed martial arts, so it will impose somewhat of a new hurdle on both to land strikes effectively. Mitsuoka prefers to explode with short hooks to close the distance, and he has shown some power in his hands. Meanwhile, Hansen typically rushes his opponents with limbs flailing, scoring with punches, kicks and knees. What Hansen lacks in accuracy and technique he makes up for in raw power, perhaps most demonstrated in his vicious knee strikes, which can be KO blows even if not set up or thrown properly.
In his last bout with Jason Ireland (Pictures), Hansen began to more effectively use the Thai plum to add even more knee strikes into his attack. Furthermore, Hansen has kept busy on the amateur boxing circuit in Scandinavia, which could offer some further refining to his striking repertoire.
Mitsuoka is a solid wrestler and can control his opponents very effectively from the body lock, which allows him to land short punches and set up takedowns. While Hansen's takedowns are solid if not particularly technically apt, his takedown defense is perhaps the weakest aspect of his game. However, this is mitigated by the fact that he has fantastic scrambling ability, both to initiate and score dominant positions off of the scramble. Hansen's submission grappling game, especially offensively, is generally underrated, but he has a flexible, active guard and can achieve dominant position. Mitsuoka is much improved in the submission game, where he now has a nasty guillotine choke and has shown considerably improved guard work.
While Mitsuoka's overall MMA game is much improved, he'll be at a considerable disadvantage on the feet due to the fact he'll not only be dealing with a fellow southpaw, but he'll be dealing with a fighter who can absorb heavy, heavy blows without flinching -- much heavier blows than those than Mitsuoka can dish out.
Furthermore, Mitsuoka has developed solid hands, but Hansen attacks like a turbine. If he's forced to strike at a distance, Mitsuoka's lack of reach and inability to control the distance will make him a sitting duck for Hansen to rush in on.
There is not much Mitsuoka can do to push the fight offensively other than tying up Hansen inside and attempting to idly pound from the top position. The problem with this game plan is that idle top pounding often doesn't count for much with pro Shooto judges, especially against a fighter like Hansen, who will be throwing back nonstop punches from the bottom the entire time and using an active guard. Mitsuoka imposing himself in any clear way over Hansen is hard to imagine, as control is the only route he can take, and Hansen is just too powerful and dynamic to control.
The rules will also handicap both fighters to an extent. Mitsuoka makes brilliant use of elbows both standing and on the ground in CAGE FORCE. For Hansen, the less rules there are, the more instinctively he can fight and overwhelm his opponents. This is perhaps a large part of why he has struggled to finish his opponents under Shooto rules while he's shown himself to be a potent finisher otherwise.
Mitsuoka should be tough and durable throughout the bout, but Hansen will just pack too much activity and firepower for him to deal with. Mitsuoka may land a few punches, but he shouldn't be able to really faze Hansen, and though he'll likely get top position at some point, Hansen's ability to fire back punches from the bottom while seamlessly threatening with submissions will negate any control he could hope to establish.
Hansen's home run knees, especially with an added clinch game, could be a recipe for a finish. But as pointed out, he's a noticeably less potent finisher in the confines of Shooto. Mitsuoka will be game, but Hansen gamer, as he takes a three-round decision victory. Look for Hansen to use his fight purse to buy two weeks worth of groceries and a tattoo touch-up.
Amongst a host of raw deals stemming from Zuffa's buyout of PRIDE, Joachim Hansen (Pictures) got one of the rawest of all. After inking a new lengthy deal with Dream Stage Entertainment and promptly owning Jason Ireland (Pictures), suddenly he was effectively unemployed. While Zuffa reportedly made him an offer to head to the Octagon, Hansen balked at the invite, stating that the dollar figure they offered was half of the fight purse in the deal he had signed with PRIDE.
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Okay, well, while Hansen may not be your first choice as an accountant or a stockbroker, he happens to be a pretty damn good lightweight. Since he burst onto the scene in early 2003 with his epic curb-stomping of Rumina Sato (Pictures) and subsequent upset of then-undefeated Shooto world champ Takanori Gomi (Pictures), "Hellboy" has remained amongst the lightweight elite. But his last trip to the Shooto ring was a pretty lousy one, as he was disqualified for a low blow on Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) in only eight seconds. And against Shooto 168-pound champion Shinya Aoki (Pictures) on New Year's Eve, he was the recipient of the gogoplata that kicked off a rubber guard craze that has seen Brad Imes (Pictures) turn into Mr. Fantastic. Clearly, the man has an axe to grind.
Hansen's assignment for the evening will be Wajyutsu Keisyukai
product Eiji Mitsuoka
(Pictures), who will be making his pro
Shooto debut after a six-plus-year career in which he has mostly
made his home in GCM-promoted shows.
Mitsuoka is perhaps most known for his PRIDE appearances, both in the short-lived series The Best and in PRIDE Bushido. Over the first four and a half years of his career that encompass those appearances, Mitsuoka was a fairly mediocre fighter. However, over the last two years or so, he has improved considerably in all facets. While he'll still be a considerable underdog against the highly regarded and highly dangerous Hansen, he is at least now a talented fighter who has the skills to respectably compete against top dogs.
The striking engagement should prove to be interesting. Both fighters are southpaws, somewhat of a rarity in mixed martial arts, so it will impose somewhat of a new hurdle on both to land strikes effectively. Mitsuoka prefers to explode with short hooks to close the distance, and he has shown some power in his hands. Meanwhile, Hansen typically rushes his opponents with limbs flailing, scoring with punches, kicks and knees. What Hansen lacks in accuracy and technique he makes up for in raw power, perhaps most demonstrated in his vicious knee strikes, which can be KO blows even if not set up or thrown properly.
In his last bout with Jason Ireland (Pictures), Hansen began to more effectively use the Thai plum to add even more knee strikes into his attack. Furthermore, Hansen has kept busy on the amateur boxing circuit in Scandinavia, which could offer some further refining to his striking repertoire.
Mitsuoka is a solid wrestler and can control his opponents very effectively from the body lock, which allows him to land short punches and set up takedowns. While Hansen's takedowns are solid if not particularly technically apt, his takedown defense is perhaps the weakest aspect of his game. However, this is mitigated by the fact that he has fantastic scrambling ability, both to initiate and score dominant positions off of the scramble. Hansen's submission grappling game, especially offensively, is generally underrated, but he has a flexible, active guard and can achieve dominant position. Mitsuoka is much improved in the submission game, where he now has a nasty guillotine choke and has shown considerably improved guard work.
While Mitsuoka's overall MMA game is much improved, he'll be at a considerable disadvantage on the feet due to the fact he'll not only be dealing with a fellow southpaw, but he'll be dealing with a fighter who can absorb heavy, heavy blows without flinching -- much heavier blows than those than Mitsuoka can dish out.
Furthermore, Mitsuoka has developed solid hands, but Hansen attacks like a turbine. If he's forced to strike at a distance, Mitsuoka's lack of reach and inability to control the distance will make him a sitting duck for Hansen to rush in on.
There is not much Mitsuoka can do to push the fight offensively other than tying up Hansen inside and attempting to idly pound from the top position. The problem with this game plan is that idle top pounding often doesn't count for much with pro Shooto judges, especially against a fighter like Hansen, who will be throwing back nonstop punches from the bottom the entire time and using an active guard. Mitsuoka imposing himself in any clear way over Hansen is hard to imagine, as control is the only route he can take, and Hansen is just too powerful and dynamic to control.
The rules will also handicap both fighters to an extent. Mitsuoka makes brilliant use of elbows both standing and on the ground in CAGE FORCE. For Hansen, the less rules there are, the more instinctively he can fight and overwhelm his opponents. This is perhaps a large part of why he has struggled to finish his opponents under Shooto rules while he's shown himself to be a potent finisher otherwise.
Mitsuoka should be tough and durable throughout the bout, but Hansen will just pack too much activity and firepower for him to deal with. Mitsuoka may land a few punches, but he shouldn't be able to really faze Hansen, and though he'll likely get top position at some point, Hansen's ability to fire back punches from the bottom while seamlessly threatening with submissions will negate any control he could hope to establish.
Hansen's home run knees, especially with an added clinch game, could be a recipe for a finish. But as pointed out, he's a noticeably less potent finisher in the confines of Shooto. Mitsuoka will be game, but Hansen gamer, as he takes a three-round decision victory. Look for Hansen to use his fight purse to buy two weeks worth of groceries and a tattoo touch-up.
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