Bellator 161: Joe Warren Ready to Make Another Title Run
Bellator 161: Joe Warren Ready to Make Another Title Run
Former Bellator bantamweight champion Joe Warren will look to spark another title run in Cedar Park, TX
Joe Warren is one of the most colorful personalities in the sport today.
The Greco-Roman wrestling world champion and former multi-division Bellator king is headed back into the Bellator cage to show the world that his self-assigned nickname still holds water at Bellator 161 when he shares co-main event status with opponent Sirwan Kakai.
“You know me, the only game plan is to move forward and make sure that I am the offensive fighter in there.” Warren said. “I’m not worried about my opponent. I don’t care who I’m fighting. It’s just about me. I have been getting better every day. The baddest man on the planet is going to get busy September 16th in Austin, Texas.”
The former champion hit a huge bump in the bantamweight championship road when he faced up and coming stud, undefeated prospect Darrion Caldwell in his last fight. The scrap was the headliner and a fight for number one contender status at Bellator 151 in March.
The young lion Caldwell took the fight going away, scoring takedowns and a highlight reel suplex before choking Warren unconscious just over three minutes into the first round. If not for an unfortunate injury early in that first round, Warren feels that the fight might have played out differently.
“I was injured the last fight.” Warren said. “I tore my MCL on that first takedown against Darrion Caldwell. It took about a month and a half to get back on it. I am 100% now. I am excited to get back in that Bellator cage and get a win in my next fight.”
Warren is a winner, plain and simple. The Bellator bantamweight has said on multiple occasions he feels naked when there isn't a gold medal around his neck or a championship belt wrapped around his waist.
He will look to reclaim Bellator's 135-pound title as soon as possible, but he is also quick to acknowledge how a fight, and even a career, can change direction on a dime in this crazy sport.
“I had the number one title contender status after I beat L.C. Davis.” Warren said. “I was waiting for those two Brazilians to fight. They wouldn’t fight. I took another fight between there to make some money. You know how it goes. It’s an unpredictable sport. I lost to Darrion. He got the shot and then lost his shot to Joe (Taimanglo), so that puts me right back in there. I will get this win (against Kakai) and then (Eduardo) Dantas and I will get back in there and get after it for everybody.”
Warren and his family live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the center of the Unites States Olympic movement.
The city is home to the Olympic Training Center, numerous world class facilities and over 80 Olympic athletes from various sports. Warren spends much of his time on the mats training and working with many of the Olympic hopefuls. He, like the rest of the county, enjoyed watching these great athletes represent the country this summer.
“My whole life was an Olympic background," Warren said. "It was for 6-8 years. That’s what we did after college. That’s why I moved here to Colorado. I bleed red, white and blue. It was great watching the Olympics this summer. That’s the one thing I didn’t get the opportunity to win. It’s something close to us, we live here in Colorado Springs, which is Olympic City USA.”
With all of his experience as an international competitor, Warren is also all too familiar with Olympic-level drug testing. He is a fan of USADA’s influence and efforts to clean up the sport of MMA. He also has some advice for those athletes looking for a way around the drug testing.
“I think the performance enhancing side of this is great.” Warren said. “USADA has the most credibility in the world. They brought them in to make the sport more credible and that’s what’s happening. You are seeing people trying to get around the system. That won’t happen. This is what they (USADA) do. It’s cleaning the sport up. People need to understand that you can’t pull anything over on USADA. They are going to know if you had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a year ago.”
The Greco-Roman wrestling world champion and former multi-division Bellator king is headed back into the Bellator cage to show the world that his self-assigned nickname still holds water at Bellator 161 when he shares co-main event status with opponent Sirwan Kakai.
“You know me, the only game plan is to move forward and make sure that I am the offensive fighter in there.” Warren said. “I’m not worried about my opponent. I don’t care who I’m fighting. It’s just about me. I have been getting better every day. The baddest man on the planet is going to get busy September 16th in Austin, Texas.”
The former champion hit a huge bump in the bantamweight championship road when he faced up and coming stud, undefeated prospect Darrion Caldwell in his last fight. The scrap was the headliner and a fight for number one contender status at Bellator 151 in March.
The young lion Caldwell took the fight going away, scoring takedowns and a highlight reel suplex before choking Warren unconscious just over three minutes into the first round. If not for an unfortunate injury early in that first round, Warren feels that the fight might have played out differently.
“I was injured the last fight.” Warren said. “I tore my MCL on that first takedown against Darrion Caldwell. It took about a month and a half to get back on it. I am 100% now. I am excited to get back in that Bellator cage and get a win in my next fight.”
Warren is a winner, plain and simple. The Bellator bantamweight has said on multiple occasions he feels naked when there isn't a gold medal around his neck or a championship belt wrapped around his waist.
He will look to reclaim Bellator's 135-pound title as soon as possible, but he is also quick to acknowledge how a fight, and even a career, can change direction on a dime in this crazy sport.
“I had the number one title contender status after I beat L.C. Davis.” Warren said. “I was waiting for those two Brazilians to fight. They wouldn’t fight. I took another fight between there to make some money. You know how it goes. It’s an unpredictable sport. I lost to Darrion. He got the shot and then lost his shot to Joe (Taimanglo), so that puts me right back in there. I will get this win (against Kakai) and then (Eduardo) Dantas and I will get back in there and get after it for everybody.”
Warren and his family live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the center of the Unites States Olympic movement.
The city is home to the Olympic Training Center, numerous world class facilities and over 80 Olympic athletes from various sports. Warren spends much of his time on the mats training and working with many of the Olympic hopefuls. He, like the rest of the county, enjoyed watching these great athletes represent the country this summer.
“My whole life was an Olympic background," Warren said. "It was for 6-8 years. That’s what we did after college. That’s why I moved here to Colorado. I bleed red, white and blue. It was great watching the Olympics this summer. That’s the one thing I didn’t get the opportunity to win. It’s something close to us, we live here in Colorado Springs, which is Olympic City USA.”
With all of his experience as an international competitor, Warren is also all too familiar with Olympic-level drug testing. He is a fan of USADA’s influence and efforts to clean up the sport of MMA. He also has some advice for those athletes looking for a way around the drug testing.
“I think the performance enhancing side of this is great.” Warren said. “USADA has the most credibility in the world. They brought them in to make the sport more credible and that’s what’s happening. You are seeing people trying to get around the system. That won’t happen. This is what they (USADA) do. It’s cleaning the sport up. People need to understand that you can’t pull anything over on USADA. They are going to know if you had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a year ago.”