| Joachim
Hansen 
by
Carl Fisher 18 June 2003 Joachim
Hansen has exploded from almost nowhere right onto the heart of the Shooto scene;
after winning all there is to win in Scandinavia from BJJ to the fearsome Finnfight
events, Joachim fought in Japan last December against Takumi. The fight went the
distance and although incurring penalty points, Hansen took the judgeÕs decision
and shortly after the fight, Rumina Sato made a challenge. Now he was in the big
league and took the fight with one thing in mind, to beat Sato convincingly. This
he did, pounding SatoÕs head with thirty-six bone crunching strikes before the
referee stepped in and stopped the match. At number 3 in the Shooto Association,
Hansen is now preparing for the fight of his life in August against the unbeaten
Gomi, training at the Finnfighters Gym in Turku, Finland; as part of my ongoing
Scandinavian tour I called in on Marko Leisten and the guys and had a few words
with Hansen, who is looking in tremendous shape and looks set to give Gomi one
hell of a fightÉ
CF
: Can we start with your fight against Takumi? Joachim
Hansen : Sure; I fought in Shooto here last October and Manabu was here and asked
me if I would like to fight in Japan and I said yes of course and one day Marko
called me saying I had an invite to fight Takumi and I went there in December
with Jon Olav and my brother who came from Australia. It was a very good time
out there, we were met at the airport and driven to the hotel and we were given
food money it was very professional and the first day we just walked around the
streets of Tokyo and played games, itÕs an amazing town, so like another planet.
The next day was fight day and we went to the arena and they have two big Shooto
events a year and this was one of them, and I was very excited to be there, yet
very nervous as I did not expect to get this far so soon. I went out on the catwalk
and Takumi came into the ring and we fought over three rounds and I won the fight. CF
: Did you expect to win, with the minus points? Joachim
Hansen : Not at all, I was very surprised; I had one warning from an accidental
groin shot, as I am not a dirty fighter and the second time I kicked him in the
face and he had his knee on the ground. First he was up on both legs and the same
time I kicked he came down to the floor and he took the kick full on in the face;
secondly I was not a Japanese fighter and if the fight would have been even the
fight would have gone to the home town, but I think I had more clean hits but
still surprised in the end. I looked at the video after the match but Takumi fought
very well and has a very hard head, he met my kick as he was coming down and he
still carried on; in training I kicked a guy by accident with half the force and
he was knocked out cold, so Takumi was very tough indeed, Samurai spirit. CF
: What happened after the fight? Joachim
Hansen : I went straight to the interview and I think then that they said Rumina
had already said he wanted to fight me, as he had fought with Takumi in the past,
which went to a draw. CF
: How did you feel? Joachim
Hansen : Very honoured event though it was not hundred per cent signed and everything;
I just knew about his flying arm bar and I hadnÕt watched a lot of Shooto, as
itÕs hard to get in Scandinavia, we mainly watch Pride and UFC, but now I have
been watching Shooto a lot. I got a date 18th March and out we went again, with
Jon Olav and my brother and Thomas Hytten from Oslo who was also fighting there.
This was a little smaller competition and we were top of the bill. CF
: How was the crowd? Joachim
Hansen : They were all on RuminaÕs side of course which I understood hundred per
cent, he was the home favourite. He looked very calm with his boxing gown and
a professional team with him and I was very nervous, full of negative feeling
all the time, thinking maybe this was too early to fight someone like this but
this all left me when I stepped into the ring. I just wanted to smash this guy
up you know, I was ready to fight; in the interview before the fight he said he
was going to leg lock me and I said IÕd hit him hard and thatÕs how it happened
in the match. I tried to hit him and he took me down and he hit a few times in
the face and went straight for the leg and it was in tight, like a vice on my
leg. He tried for an Achilles lock then we rolled a little and I hit him a few
times and he went for a heel hook; as he twisted one way I went the other and
it slipped out and he went for a knee bar and it was in, but I managed to twist
out of it and he went for a heel hook again and I started to think I have to do
something here, I didnÕt know how long I would last. As
I was struggling to get my leg free, his head came into range and I landed a hard
shot to the jaw and I felt him weaken and I came up on top of him, but he still
had my leg, so I carried on hitting him and sneaked a few in and then he started
to get weaker and I knew if I continued to hit hard I would beat him, so I hit
him with all my might and I was waiting for the ref to step in, I hit him with
thirty six punches before they stopped the fight and the towels came in. CF
: Looking at the video after your win, you nearly got yourself in a bit of trouble? Joachim
Hansen : My God yes (Laughs) I was so happy and took out my gum shield and threw
it into the crowd, but I am not a good thrower and I hit a lady on the third row
in the forehead, who just happened to be Caol UnoÕs mother; I went out of the
ring and saw this very angry woman and Jon Olav said IÕd hit her with my gumshield,
so I went over and apologised and gave her a hug and she was OK and everyone was
happy. I wont do that again in a hurry. CF
: Were you surprised at how fast Sato took you to the floor? Joachim
Hansen : Yes I thought he would have tried to box a little, but he was surprised
I was so tall, he said that after the fight. CF
: How did the Japanese react to your win? Joachim
Hansen : After the last shots had hit him, the hall was very quiet you know, but
they appreciate a good fight and a good fighter; as long as you go there and fight,
win or lose they like you, they have a good mentality. CF
: The scheduled fight with Shaolin was cancelled and now you are to face the fight
of your life with Gomi? Joachim
Hansen : Yes I was supposed to fight in Hook N Shoot July 18th, Shaolin fought
on the same show when I fought Takumi, maybe I fight him another day perhaps. CF
: When did the Gomi confirmation come through? Joachim
Hansen : A few weeks ago. CF
: How do you feel? Joachim
Hansen : A little happy and a little nervous, I have only had seven fights and
donÕt have good experience behind the ropes; Gomi is very comfortable in the ring,
he has about thirty fights and no losses but everyone can be beaten. CF
: What will you be concentrating on in preparation for this fight? Joachim
Hansen : My boxing; I am going back to Oslo next week to train with some pro boxers;
they will take care of me. They will be showing me how to punch hard and sharpen
my skills; Gomi looks a simple fighter, not in the negative way, he looks like
he always have a plan when he fights and I hear he goes down from seventy six
to seventy for a fight, so he is going to be strong, plus he has good takedowns
and is good on the ground as well. CF
: How long have you been in Finland now? Joachim
Hansen : I have been here about eight months, I wanted to come here to get away
from Oslo, not away from the gym; life is short and I want to go somewhere before
itÕs too late. I have been to a lot of places through this sport and when you
look back itÕs good to say, yeah IÕve been there, itÕs good to see some of the
world. CF
: At the ADCC Finals in Brazil this year, you didnÕt get off to the best start
did you? Joachim
Hansen : ThatÕs right, I had to go down in weight to 65.9 and had never done that
before, so I ate some salad in Mc DonaldÕs in Frankfurt; I asked the guy for some
salad as I was very hungry and he looked in the fridge and there wasnÕt any there,
so he went round the back and had a look and came back with some shitty looking
salad, but I was so hungry I ate it, it had a funny smell and as I landed in Brazil
I started puking real bad, everything was swinging around in my head, I was seeing
double. I threw up on the plane, in a garbage can at the airport and at the hotel
and I was thinking fuck this I wanna go home you know, this is so bad luck. I
feel asleep and I woke up at seven with Jon Olav and I felt a little better but
still out of shape, and we went to the gym without eating and I went on the treadmill
for twenty minutes and then I went into the sauna with all my clothes on, chewing
gum and spitting to try and lose weight and I made the weigh in at 65.4 and then
we went to eat and the day after it was competition day. The
first fight was against Chris Derkson and at the start of the fight I felt some
thing was wrong, all my power was gone and my heart was beating fast and I was
so tired, but I managed to choke him out; the second match was against Soca and
I tried to take him down and get the underhooks but he jumped guard and he flipped
me. He tried to pass my guard and we stood up and I tried the single leg takedown
and he took a strong grip on my neck and he went down into the guillotine and
I tried to roll out, but my hands were trapped and I had to tap, but itÕs no shame
to lose against someone like that. I donÕt have any excuses, I lost and even if
I was in the best shape of my life I donÕt think I could have won. CF
: WeÕve covered just about everything I think now; what do you have to say to
all the Japanese fight fans, regarding the fight with Gomi in August? Joachim
Hansen : I hope itÕs going to be a good fight that people like, itÕs an important
fight for me, maybe the most important fight so far and I want to thank them for
supporting me and the fans are the people that make the sport. ItÕs very nice
to fight when the crowd are behind you, it gives you an extra kick of adrenaline
and makes you fight better and harder. CF
: Thanks for the interview Joachim
Hansen : My pleasure
SFUK
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