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Joe Warren: BEAT Eduardo Dantas Great fight lst night Joe warren is 37
Thursday, 10-09-2014
History can be made at the WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma on Spike TV as the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” Joe Warren can become the first unified two-divisional champion in Bellator history.
Warren (11-3) held the featherweight title for 554 days from September 2, 2010 - March 9, 2012 and he won the interim bantamweight championship in March as he defeated Rafael Silva by decision at Bellator 118. On Friday night, he will face champion Eduardo Dantas in a title unification bout in the main event of Bellator 128.
His title bout against Dantas was initially scheduled to take place at Bellator 118, but an injury forced Dantas off the card and Bellator officials turned to Silva to face Warren on two weeks’ notice for the interim title. Since Warren won the title, there has been a war of words between the two fighters and Warren recently told Bellator.com that he feels Dantas is a fighter that runs away from competition.
“Eduardo Dantas is a champion who's scared and runs away from competitors,” Warren said. “I've been trying to fight this guy for a long time now. He's a young kid -- what do you expect? Champions stand in there and defend their belts. Champions don't run. I just don't know if he'll be able to deal with the pressure I'm going to bring."
While this is only the fifth year that Warren has been competing in mixed martial arts, he has faced top competition in Bellator. As a featherweight, he faced Georgi Karakhanyan, Patricio Pitbull, Joe Soto, Marcos Galvao, and Pat Curran. His only defeat in the Bellator featherweight division came against Curran and since moving down to featherweight, he has won four of five fights. He is currently riding a four-fight winning streak and does admit he will have his hands full on Friday night.
“Technically, Dantas is one of the most talented fighters out there,” he said. “I've got my hands full with this guy. He's five inches taller and he's got really dramatic striking. It's going to be a great fight for the fans, but -- he's gotta go through The Baddest Man on the Planet, and none of his countrymen have been able to do that yet.”
“I'm not going to lie -- Dantas is one of the most talented kids I've ever seen in the cage. He's very explosive, he's very dynamic and he's got a lot of weapons, and he's confident. He believes in his abilities. It's hard to stop a fighter at that point, but it's different when you're fighting a battle-tested warrior like me. My experience in that cage, especially during the high-pressure moments, will put me out on top.”
When Warren is introduced on Friday night by Michael Williams, he will be called the Bellator Interim Bantamweight Champion. However, Warren feels that he is the true champion and Dantas has to take the belt away from him.
“I believe I'm the Bellator Bantamweight World Champion right now and he needs to come back and try to get his belt. I'm honored for the opportunity to beat him in a Bellator cage. I already conduct myself like a champion. I am a world champion and I'm what Bellator started out to get -- a world champion that will hold and defend the belt with dignity. You've got a young boy and a man, and I think you'll see the man walk away with that belt.”
This fight will mark the fourth Bellator title fight for Warren, so he is use to the atmosphere of a title fight. Dantas is familiar with this as well, this be his fourth title fight and third defense of the bantamweight title. The difference is that Warren has been in bigger title fights than Dantas to this point and while this is no question the biggest fight of Dantas career, Warren calls this just another fight.
“This is another title fight for me; another comfortable situation for me,” Warren said. “Big fight, big crowd, and lots of stress -- that's a comfortable situation for me. That's what experience does for you. That's me wrestling in the world championships and winning, and winning world championships in two different divisions at Bellator. That's experience right there. That's being a veteran. This is a big fight for Dantas, one of the biggest fights of his life. This is just another fight for me. This is just another opportunity that's put in front of me to knock down. Being very comfortable and relaxed in this type of pressure situation is something that will help me.”
If you follow Warren and Dantas on Twitter, you have seen what the fighters have said to each other. Warren is someone that will speak his mind when a question is asked to him and this fight has become personal for him. Dantas has upset his family over various statements he has made on Twitter, and he plans to make him pay for those words on Friday night.
“Eduardo Dantas is the immature kid who's upset my family and I'm taking it personally. My wife wants me to put this guy down bad. So this is going to be a family affair with me beating the s--t out of this guy. My wife doesn't like the kid. She hates him, and my wife doesn't hate anybody and respects everybody. Dantas really pissed her off by skipping out on our fight; talking about me being on steroids when I'm the cleanest man in the sport … he's just scared! He's a scared little kid. I'm getting in his head a little bit and it's hurting him, and that's the difference with age – being able to handle something with respect or not. The words I say to him come strictly out of annoyance. I've never had my wife tell me she wants somebody dead, and I told her “no problem.”
Warren is the older fighter in this fight as he is 12-years older than Dantas and he may see things differently than his opponent on Friday. One of the aspects in life that Warren feels he sees different is his view on mixed martial arts and he plans to bring violence to the cage on Friday in Oklahoma.
“This is my job! This is what I do for a living. This isn't a game for me like it is for him. MMA is not a sport for me, it's a job, and for him to pull out of a fight with one or two weeks’ notice, for him to have “panic attacks” and drop out of fights … who the hell has a panic attack? Half of Brazil had a panic attack when they found out he signed the contract to fight me. I've been waiting for a long time and it's finally here. I've got a very violent type of vengeance on my mind for this one.”
Thursday, 10-09-2014
History can be made at the WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma on Spike TV as the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” Joe Warren can become the first unified two-divisional champion in Bellator history.
Warren (11-3) held the featherweight title for 554 days from September 2, 2010 - March 9, 2012 and he won the interim bantamweight championship in March as he defeated Rafael Silva by decision at Bellator 118. On Friday night, he will face champion Eduardo Dantas in a title unification bout in the main event of Bellator 128.
His title bout against Dantas was initially scheduled to take place at Bellator 118, but an injury forced Dantas off the card and Bellator officials turned to Silva to face Warren on two weeks’ notice for the interim title. Since Warren won the title, there has been a war of words between the two fighters and Warren recently told Bellator.com that he feels Dantas is a fighter that runs away from competition.
“Eduardo Dantas is a champion who's scared and runs away from competitors,” Warren said. “I've been trying to fight this guy for a long time now. He's a young kid -- what do you expect? Champions stand in there and defend their belts. Champions don't run. I just don't know if he'll be able to deal with the pressure I'm going to bring."
While this is only the fifth year that Warren has been competing in mixed martial arts, he has faced top competition in Bellator. As a featherweight, he faced Georgi Karakhanyan, Patricio Pitbull, Joe Soto, Marcos Galvao, and Pat Curran. His only defeat in the Bellator featherweight division came against Curran and since moving down to featherweight, he has won four of five fights. He is currently riding a four-fight winning streak and does admit he will have his hands full on Friday night.
“Technically, Dantas is one of the most talented fighters out there,” he said. “I've got my hands full with this guy. He's five inches taller and he's got really dramatic striking. It's going to be a great fight for the fans, but -- he's gotta go through The Baddest Man on the Planet, and none of his countrymen have been able to do that yet.”
“I'm not going to lie -- Dantas is one of the most talented kids I've ever seen in the cage. He's very explosive, he's very dynamic and he's got a lot of weapons, and he's confident. He believes in his abilities. It's hard to stop a fighter at that point, but it's different when you're fighting a battle-tested warrior like me. My experience in that cage, especially during the high-pressure moments, will put me out on top.”
When Warren is introduced on Friday night by Michael Williams, he will be called the Bellator Interim Bantamweight Champion. However, Warren feels that he is the true champion and Dantas has to take the belt away from him.
“I believe I'm the Bellator Bantamweight World Champion right now and he needs to come back and try to get his belt. I'm honored for the opportunity to beat him in a Bellator cage. I already conduct myself like a champion. I am a world champion and I'm what Bellator started out to get -- a world champion that will hold and defend the belt with dignity. You've got a young boy and a man, and I think you'll see the man walk away with that belt.”
This fight will mark the fourth Bellator title fight for Warren, so he is use to the atmosphere of a title fight. Dantas is familiar with this as well, this be his fourth title fight and third defense of the bantamweight title. The difference is that Warren has been in bigger title fights than Dantas to this point and while this is no question the biggest fight of Dantas career, Warren calls this just another fight.
“This is another title fight for me; another comfortable situation for me,” Warren said. “Big fight, big crowd, and lots of stress -- that's a comfortable situation for me. That's what experience does for you. That's me wrestling in the world championships and winning, and winning world championships in two different divisions at Bellator. That's experience right there. That's being a veteran. This is a big fight for Dantas, one of the biggest fights of his life. This is just another fight for me. This is just another opportunity that's put in front of me to knock down. Being very comfortable and relaxed in this type of pressure situation is something that will help me.”
If you follow Warren and Dantas on Twitter, you have seen what the fighters have said to each other. Warren is someone that will speak his mind when a question is asked to him and this fight has become personal for him. Dantas has upset his family over various statements he has made on Twitter, and he plans to make him pay for those words on Friday night.
“I speak my mind. That's the thing people don't like,” Warren said.
“I'm a very honest person and I'm going to speak the truth. People don't want to hear the truth; they want things sugar-coated. I put it right out there and tell you how it is. I tell you exactly how I feel, and that's that I'm going to beat this Brazilian kid up, get another Bellator belt and hold it for a long time. I don't have a problem saying that because it's something I believe. A lot of people have trouble being confident about their abilities because they don't believe in their abilities. I believe in everything I'm doing: mentally, I know I'm the toughest man in the world, I'm the baddest man on the planet and no one can touch me. So it's very easy for me to talk about my skills and what my plans are. I don't worry about my opponent or anything that he's going to do -- I worry about doing what I'm supposed to do, because if I do it right, no one can stop me.” “Eduardo Dantas is the immature kid who's upset my family and I'm taking it personally. My wife wants me to put this guy down bad. So this is going to be a family affair with me beating the s--t out of this guy. My wife doesn't like the kid. She hates him, and my wife doesn't hate anybody and respects everybody. Dantas really pissed her off by skipping out on our fight; talking about me being on steroids when I'm the cleanest man in the sport … he's just scared! He's a scared little kid. I'm getting in his head a little bit and it's hurting him, and that's the difference with age – being able to handle something with respect or not. The words I say to him come strictly out of annoyance. I've never had my wife tell me she wants somebody dead, and I told her “no problem.”
Warren is the older fighter in this fight as he is 12-years older than Dantas and he may see things differently than his opponent on Friday. One of the aspects in life that Warren feels he sees different is his view on mixed martial arts and he plans to bring violence to the cage on Friday in Oklahoma.
“This is my job! This is what I do for a living. This isn't a game for me like it is for him. MMA is not a sport for me, it's a job, and for him to pull out of a fight with one or two weeks’ notice, for him to have “panic attacks” and drop out of fights … who the hell has a panic attack? Half of Brazil had a panic attack when they found out he signed the contract to fight me. I've been waiting for a long time and it's finally here. I've got a very violent type of vengeance on my mind for this one.”
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