Joachim Hansen

Joachim B. Hansen (born 26 May 1979) is a Norwegian retired mixed martial artist. He began his career fighting for FinnFight before moving on to fight for Shooto where he became the first Scandinavian person to hold an MMA world title after winning the Shooto World Lightweight Championship in 2003 from Takanori Gomi. Hansen later fought for the Pride Fighting Championship and most recently Dream where he became the Dream Lightweight Champion. Background Hansen was born in Oslo, Norway to a Norwegian father and Scottish mother. Aside from his career as a fighter, he has a job driving an oil tanker. Hansen's passion in martial arts began after seeing Jackie Chan films in his youth and he began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu when he was 19 years old. He is good friends with former UFC veteran and Norwegian Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist John Olav Einemo. Mixed martial arts career FinnFight and Shooto Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen began his career fighting for Finnish promotion FinnFight before moving on to fight for Shooto's Finnish branch. His performance got him invited to Shooto's year-end show in 2002 where he, with a 3–1 record, faced Takumi Nakayama who at the time had 14 fights under his belt. Hansen won a majority decision. Hansen's performance impressed Shooto-veteran Rumina Sato who challenged Hansen after the match. Three months later the two met, with Hansen defeating the Japanese fighter two minutes into the bout by TKO. The win set him up for a title shot against the Shooto Lightweight Champion, and at the time 14–0, Takanori Gomi. The fight went the distance with Hansen being awarded a majority decision, making him the Shooto Lightweight Champion and first Scandinavian person to hold a MMA world title. Hansen's first title defense was against another undefeated fighter in Vítor Ribeiro who took away Hansen's title by submitting him two minutes into the second round.