Joachim

Photo by: Stephen Martinez

by: Denny “The Mad One” Hodge

People have been talking since this past Saturday about which show was better, UFC Fight Night 14 or Affliction: Banned.  Both shows had devastating and quick endings in their main events.  Both had lackluster showings on the undercards.  Overall, both shows were entertaining top to bottom.  For an MMA fan, this past weekend was full of big action and big names.

The MMA packed weekend was still in full swing Sunday night (or 1 A.M. Central for some of us), when the Dream 5 show kicked off live from Japan on HDNet.  It was finally time to see who would walk away the champion of the LW grand prix.  The card was full of promise, and it delivered on nearly every level.

In my article previewing Dream 5, I made the prediction that Eddie Alvarez would walk away with the belt, as he and “Hellboy” Hansen were engaged in an what many agree was the fight of the year with a spot in the semi’s up for grabs in Dream 3.  Eddie’s draw for the semifinal’s was a tough top ten ranked Kawajiri.  The fight started fast as expected with Kawajiri throwing some hard leg kicks, and Eddie responding with some heavy hands.  Alvarez looked amazingly fast and crisp, and the exchanges were exciting leading to a cut on Eddie’s right eye.  The action was stopped to check the cut, but the fighters quickly got back to their escalating war.  Eddie was coming full steam and was caught by a counter left that dropped him in the ring.  Kawajiri pounced, but Alvarez did a good job of controlling posture and taking little damage, giving himself time to recover.  The fighters made their way back to their feet and squared off again, with Eddie pressing forward and both throwing huge bombs that connected on each fighter’s chins.  Eddie’s eye started swelling badly, but he was going for broke, throwing huge combo’s until a big right rocked Kawajiri and he dropped looking like he was finished.  Eddie threw his hands up and looked at the ref, and after a moment with no intervention, jumped on Kawajiri and finished him.  Alvarez advances to the finals with another amazing performance against a top lightweight.

In the fight prior, Shinya Aoki squared off with Caol Uno with a stake in the finals at risk.  Aoki was his usual calm and cerebral self as he stalked Uno out of the gate and landed a flying knee, followed by a takedown and full mount.  From here Aoki went to work and controlled Uno for the rest of the first round.  If you are the type of MMA fan that loves a technical ground battle, this one was for you.  Aoki controlled Uno for much of the fight slithering all over his body and transitioning from submission attempt to submission attempt.  Aoki went for the full spectrum of submissions from armbars, to triangles, to rear naked chokes, and even a gogoplata attempt.  Uno showed good defense but was wearied from defending himself the entire fight.  Aoki earned the decision win over Uno and advanced to the finals to face Eddie Alvarez.

With the Lightweight Grand Prix requiring 2 wins in one night to claim the championship, Dream showcased a Lightweight reserve match to ensure that if one of the finalists couldn’t continue, that the show would go on.  Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen faced a tough and game Kultan Gill in the match, and Gill came out strong landing some big knees to the midsection and face of “Hellboy”.  The fight didn’t last long however as Hansen took the fight to the ground and from his back went for an armbar, transitioned to a triangle, then finished Gill with an armbar for the victory.

As the fights played out, Eddie’s eye became a concern, and during the broadcast it was learned that the doctors had made a decision to NOT let Eddie fight in the finals due to his eye.  Eddie addressed the crowd and was adamant about his desire to fight, and showed great emotion explaining that he would be unable to fight Aoki for the title.  He went on to show support for “Hellboy” Hansen during the clash between Hansen and Aoki for the LW grandprix championship.

With the finals set, Aoki and Hansen made their way to the ring.  Both looked fresh considering they had already fought once earlier that night.  The fight started with Aoki getting a takedown and working on Hansen from the top.  The fighters were back on their feet following a restart due to a cup check, and Aoki pulled guard  and started working methodically for submissions.  “Hellboy” hung tough picking and choosing his shots.  Aoki was working the rubber guard effectively and even went for a gogoplata.  Hellboy stood up in his guard and as Aoki was turning towards him, “Hellboy” landed a huge shot that stunned Aoki at 5:45 in the first round.  Hansen proceeded to follow up with some more big shots and the fight was called with “Hellboy” winning by knock out.

Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen  was crowned the Dream LW Grand Prix champion, and thanked the crowd expressing his desire to defend the title against Eddie Alvarez.  The crowd loudly applauded at the mention of Alvarez and Hansen going at it again.

The other fights on the card were just as full of action with the card starting off with K-1 striker Andy Ologun facing Daisuke Nakamura.  There were no secrets in startegy here as Ologun came out kicking, and Nakamura looking for subs.  In between the action there was some posturing and trash talking going on.  As the two met in the center of the ring and closed distance, Nakamura jumped guard and took an arm with him, submitting Andy with an amazingly quick armbar at 3:41 of Round 1.

In a featherweight matchup, Urijah Faber protege, Joseph Benavidez was “Faber-esque” in his dismantling of Kono.  Joe was super fast and strong, and at one point pulled off a huge, devastating suplex that rattled Kono for the rest of the fight, leading to a full mount choke victory for Joe.

In a rare appearance, Mark Hunt stepped into the ring to battle Alistair Overeem.  In less than two minutes, the fight was over with Overeem securing a keylock just moments after Hunt threw him to the ground like a rag doll.

Also victorious in other action was Yoshihiro Akiyama over Katsuyori Shibata via Ezekial choke, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, and Hideo Tokoro.

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