Norwegian MMA specialist Joachim Hansen has been absent from action since July of 2008.  Hansen filled in for Eddie Alvarez in the finals of the DREAM LW Gran Prix and shocked many fans by fiercely pounding out Shinya Aoki, administering sweet revenge after Aoki caught him in a gogoplata in their first encounter in Pride FC and evening their fight history to one apiece. There was no clear explanation as to why Hansen was amiss from the DREAM mix, but he makes his long-awaited return at DREAM 11 on October 6th to participate in the rubber match with Shinya Aoki for the lightweight belt.  This recent interview and translation from japan-mma.com reveals the story behind his unexplained disappearance:

"Up until the day before New Year’s Eve I had been practicing in great condition and getting ready for the 'big one' with J.Z. I had myself physically and mentally in great shape but right in the middle of the last stage of practices I went for a takedown and when I tried to lift my training partner up but he resisted pretty hard and got my leg caught up. We both went down on my head.

When I hit my head I was conscious but I felt nauseous and dizzy and my head hurt so I took a break from practicing and went to my room to rest. A little while later when I thought I had recovered I tried to get out of bed and I was overcome by much stronger dizziness. I don’t have any memory after that. The next thing I knew I was lying on the floor and my team-mates were asking me if I was OK. My manager looked at me and said 'Let’s go to the hospital.' And the DREAM staff brought me to the hospital right away. I had an X-ray of my skull and a CT scan taken but there weren’t any cracks or bleeding. According to the doctor there wasn’t anything abnormal in the tests but since I hit my head I was experiencing symptoms of a concussion. I told the doctor I wanted to fight if it was at all possible but he said 'I absolutely cannot authorize that' so all I could do was accept the verdict. Thinking about the fans and J.Z and everyone else it made me really depressed."

Full interview and translation:  japan-mma.com

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