March 26, 2005

Saitama Super Arena

K-1 Heros: LeBanner Vs Akiyama 

By Brad Wharton

As the years creep on and MMA becomes further homogenized (not necessarily a bad thing), many of the cult classic promotions of the past risk becoming consigned to the history books. You would like to think Shooto won’t be one of them. Its legacy runs too deep, its influence too vast. The DNA of Shooto continues to permeate the sport to this day, but in the 00s, it ran rampant through the veins of the most technically proficient exponents of this great art. The same will likely never be said of HERO’S, the brief, bastard offshoot of Japanese kickboxing powerhouse K-1, and its early foray into mixed-ruled fights, ROMANEX. HERO’S was born in 2005 and overseen by Fighting Network RINGS patriarch Akira Maeda. And while Maeda’s flair for the dramatic was visible amidst the classic JMMA tropes of mixed-weight bouts, sport-versus-sport clashes, and ‘freakshow’ fights, the beating heart of the federation’s short lifespan was a collection of lower-weight classics featuring a cohort of virtually unknown, but undoubtedly elite, combat sports athletes. On March 26th, 2005, HERO’S very first show, fans were treated to one of the greatest fights, and Shootists stood in both corners. 

IN A VIOLENT NATURE

In a sport defined by one person’s ability to inflict extreme forms of martial punishment onto another, it’s tough to single a particular individual out as ‘violent.’ Unless that is, you’ve witnessed the glorious brutalism that is a Joachim Hansen fight. With MMA illegal in his native Norway, Hansen traveled to nearby Finland to start his career. After featuring on Shooto’s first foray into Scandinavia, he went to the Land of the Rising Sun to compete against the promotion’s best. After his first fight on Japanese soil, ‘Hellboy’ - nicknamed for his bloodthirsty style and penchant for heavy metal – found himself called out by a forgotten great who was Shooto royalty: Rumina Sato. Hansen wrecked the promotion’s talisman before handing the then 14-0 and seemingly unbeatable lightweight Takanori Gomi his first loss, capturing the promotion’s 154lb title in the process. He was far from the promotion’s only dangerous graduate. 

SHOOTFIGHTER NUMERO UNO 

Blame it on the Japanese MMA tradition of competing until you get the fight beaten out of you. Still, Caol Uno’s MMA career somehow lasted longer than that of the legendary Kazushi Sakuraba. Nothing wrong with that, of course; Uno himself was a pioneer of the lower weight classes, an original Shootist who defeated the likes of Din Thomas, Dennis Hallman, and Fabiano Iha around the turn of the century. His most notable achievement, though, at least on home soil, was his third-round submission of Shooto’s 154lb champion Rumina Sato on the promotion’s (sort of) 10th Anniversary event in May ’99. Considered an upset at the time, Sato truly passed the torch a year and a half later when Uno knocked him out cold in their rematch for the 154lb title. The win saw Uno called up to the UFC, but the Japanese ace struggled with the American promotion’s elite lightweights, dropping bouts to Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, and Hermes Franca. With a mediocre stateside run behind him, Uno would eventually sign with K-1 and recapture his form in Japan, where his star had not yet dimmed. 

WE COULD BE HERO’S, IF JUST FOR ONE DAY

With Uno being something of a fringe celebrity fashion icon thanks to his collaborations with Adidas and K-1 riding the tail-end of their Bob Sapp-fueled mainstream notoriety, it should have come as little surprise that he’d feature as one of the key players on the first HERO’S event. As a sharp-dressed man who exuded cool, he seemed the perfect foil for Hansen, whose deathly pale complexion, shorn skull, and prominent tattoos gave off a somewhat demonic aura. The bell rang, and Hellboy advanced immediately, guard high and tight, lashing out a kick that Uno had caught and used to take him down with a sublime leg-sweep. The home fighter made the most of his early good fortune, chipping away from the top position while avoiding Hansen’s gnarly up-kicks and brute-force sweep attempts. Amid an intricate guard pass, the Norwegian burst to life, wrestling his way up at Uno’s back and dumping him with a suplex as the crowd gasped in astonishment. The pair went from their feet to the ground and back again, with Uno attacking a kimura before exchanging vicious strikes from the Thai clinch, Uno kicking low, Hansen blasting away with uppercuts. Hellboy was tripped again but threatened with an armbar. Another transition here, another sweep there; the pair were barely a round in, and the bout was already exhausting to watch. Exhausting but fascinating: Uno’s perplexing, unorthodox position play versus Hansen’s meat and potatoes brutality. 

ROUND TWO

The bell rang for round two, and the pair picked up right where they left off, wading into each other to the delight of the Saitama crowd. Uno tried another slick throw, but Hansen had it scouted and clamped onto his arm as the pair hit the mat, forcing a hasty recalibration from ‘Shoten.’ Uno had done some scouting, dropping to his knees or turning his back to nullify the arcing up-kicks sent his way whenever he tried to pass guard. When one did get through, the sound was thunderous. Hellboy returned to his feet and snapped off punches, a devastating reminder of his stopping power. Uno was able to force more grappling exchanges, but the takedowns and trips weren’t coming, and Hansen was making him pay. 

THE GLORIOUS DECIDER

With round two complete, it was one apiece and everything to play for. At the time, Japanese MMA wasn’t exactly known for its kindness to ‘Gaijin’ (foreigners) when it came to the judges’ scorecards, so while momentum may have been on Hansen’s side, he entered the third like a man in desperate need of a finish. The Norwegian southpaw came crashing out of the corner at the bell, battering Uno up close before executing a pitch-perfect leg-sweep to drive his man into the canvas. Perhaps sensing the need for some risk-taking himself, Uno bated Hansen into a pass to mount, using the momentum to reverse him, defending the subsequent armbar, and letting rip with a volley of punches. The crowd roared with approval at the game of ultraviolent chess playing itself out before them. Their guy was feeling it, hopping around at Hansen’s feet before cartwheeling through his guard and dropping hammer fists through every available gap. If they were giving out points for style, the Japanese fighter would have been way ahead. As it was, he was in the ascendency, scrambling all over Hansen like a spider webbing up its prey. With two minutes on the clock Hansen attempted a Hail Mary takedown of his own, but it went disastrously wrong as Uno fell back into a Kimura, hyper-extending his arm. Somehow, Hansen fought free, muscling his way back to his feet and wading into Uno with all that he had left, which, admittedly, wasn’t much. 

Uno was spent too, securing another takedown only by sheer force of will. He landed two more big punches, but that was all the fight he had left in him. As Hellboy heaved himself back to his feet, Uno backed off and – in a baffling move – turned his head to look at the digital clock on the ring apron. The glowing red display read 0:15, but it didn’t matter. Uno’s gaze swiveled back around to see Hansen marching towards him. His right foot was planted firmly on the floor, and he brought his left knee up and into Uno’s jaw with one deft movement. 

‘Shoten’ went down like a puppet with the strings cut, limbs splayed out at all angles, the crowd erupting in a mixture of cheers, shock, and distress. Hansen raised his hand and calmly walked back to his corner.