DREAM.13: Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen's Second Chance

by Dave Walsh on Mar 21, 2010 9:05 PM EDT in DREAM

Hellboy makes his way to the DREAM Featherweight Division.

Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen is known as one of the most exciting fighters in the world and has been for years. Long a favorite for MMA fans, Joachim Hansen tonight has a shot at holding his second DREAM title in a second division, a feat that has not been seen in a major Japanese organization since Dan Henderson was the PRIDE Middleweight and Welterweight Champion (granted, at the same time).

In DREAM's Lightweight tournament, Hansen was eliminated by current Bellator kingpin, Eddie Alvarez, apparently ending his dream's of becoming the first DREAM Lightweight Champion. Everything seemed ho-hum when Hansen dispatched Kultar Gill in the DREAM Lightweight Reserve bout. On that same night, Eddie Alvarez went on to dash the hopes of another tournament favorite, Tatsuya Kawajiri. The only problem was he could not continue on to the finals that night, as he suffered an eye injury. So Shinya Aoki was now set to meet the reserve fighter, Joachim Hansen in the finals.

Of course, against the submission expert Shinya Aoki, there weren't many pulling for Hansen, until Hansen went in and annihilated Aoki, being crowned the first champion. At DREAM.13, Hansen finds himself in a similar position, against a truly talented grappler in Bibiano Fernandes. What people tend to forget is just how well-rounded Hansen is. While his last bout with Aoki didn't end favorable for Hansen, as he was out-grappled by a star grappler, Hansen is a very decorated grappler in his own right, he just happens to have incredible kickboxing on top of that. If Georges St. Pierre is the prototype for the future Mixed Martial Artist in the United States; the strong wrestler with solid jiu-jitsu and kickboxing, Hansen is the early beta of what to look for in the Japanese fight industry; the exciting grappler with explosive kickboxing who isn't afraid to take risks.

At DREAM.13 Hansen is dropping in weight, taking a shot at the Featherweight belt, finally giving in to dropping in weight and seeing how he fares at Featherweight. If he was a force at Lightweight, one would have to think that dropping down to Featherweight he could very well be unstoppable. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few months fans are calling for dream matches between Hansen and the likes of Brown, Aldo and Faber.