Within 30 seconds Hansen had been knocked to the ground by a strong right hand, something that set the tone for the rest of the fight. I touched briefly on the ability to change gear the American possesses in the last section but the pace he set in this fight made the Kawajiri bout look like a snail-race. Eddie Alvarez vs Joachim Hansen (DREAM 3 : Lightweight Grand Prix, 2008)Īnother classic Alvarez performance this time around one where we saw a 24-year-old Alvarez take on BJJ black belt Joachim Hansen in a Fight of the Year contender. His ability to turn the heat up in a matter of seconds was what won him this fight, with his raw animalistic intensity a constant throughout his career, showing itself most recently in his title-winning bout with Rafael dos Anjos.Ĥ. We know he gets hit, but we also know he can take a shot and recover from it. In true Alvarez fashion he managed to get dropped by a stiff right hand halfway through the round but after surviving off of his back he pulled himself to his feet, turned up the volume and blitzed his way to a TKO victory, overwhelming Tatsuya and finishing him with some ground-and-pound. He was unable to finish however, and the fight resumed with Alvarez pressuring Kawajiri up onto the fence, employing the dirty boxing that has always been a staple of his high-output style. However, around the three-minute mark of the ten-minute opening round, Alvarez saw his chance and began to unload on the Japanese fighter, sending him tumbling to the canvas.
The first few minutes showed us a relatively patient Alvarez, with him electing to keep on the outside and shoot for a few takedowns, all while beginning to work the lead-leg of his opponent. A high-tempo was set by both men early on with Kawajiri landing possibly the bigger strikes. To start things off we have a classic Eddie Alvarez barn-burner. Eddie Alvarez vs Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM 5 : Lightweight Grand Prix, 2008)
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