The current DREAM lightweight champion Joachim Hansen will defend his title against Shinya Aoki at the DREAM 11 event. Aoki and Hansen will be fighting for a third time in their MMA careers. The first time they met was at Pride Shockwave 2006 on New Year’s Eve and Aoki defeated Hansen via a gogoplata submission in the first round. It wasn’t until July of 2008 where they would meet for a second time, but this rematch bout ended differently. Hansen defeated Aoki at the DREAM 5 lightweight Grand Prix finals by way of TKO and took home the belt.
The Norwegian fighter has remained inactive since being hospitalized for a concussion on the eve of his first title defense against Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante last December. Hansen has since recovered and is currently training in Norway.
Aoki broke the news of a third match-up against Hansen after defeating Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro at DREAM 10. Aoki, who in April had been knocked out of the promotion’s welterweight Grand Prix by Hayato Sakurai’s powerful knees, was there to make a point.
DREAM 11 will take place on October 6th, 2009 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. This event will host the finals of DREAM’s featherweight Grand Prix, featuring semi-finalist bouts between Bibiano Fernandes and Joe Warren as well as Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Hideo Tokoro. The winners will face off later that night to crown the DREAM featherweight champion of the world.
Snip from Shinya Aoki:
“Muay Thai is interesting, right? Yeah, I expected boos. In October, I’ll have a title fight, and on New Year’s Eve I will have my revenge.”
