Eduardo Dantas lost the Bellator bantamweight title to Joe Warren on Oct. 10, but he wants another five rounds against “The Baddest Man on the Planet.” Dantas held the 135-pound championship for two and a half years, and he feels he deserves an immediate rematch after a unanimous decision loss in Thackerville, Okla.
“I want this rematch. I want to fight him again,” “Dudu” told MMAFighting.com after Bellator 128. “I believe I deserve it because I was the champion for two years, I waited for Bellator to do tournaments so I could fight again, and defended my title twice. And I don’t think he defeated me convincingly. We need to fight again. He really is a tough athlete, but he didn’t defeat me convincingly.
“I want to get the title back,” he added. “I have no injuries at all. I will get back to training next week to train and fix my mistakes. I promise you a new ‘Dudu’ Dantas, more intelligent and more aggressive. I will focus and train more wrestling now.”
Dantas won’t protest the judges’ call, and won’t even talk about the illegal kick Warren landed in the fifth round, which could have led to a draw if the referee had deducted a point. The Brazilian says Warren deservedly won, but still has “unfinished business” with the new champion.
“It was a tough fight, and it was Warren’s night. He did everything right, did the right strategy and won, but I didn’t fight well,” he said. “I don’t understand what happened. I didn’t do any combinations I trained, I didn’t do anything.
“I was in the best shape of my life, I was well prepared, but I don’t know what happened to me. It was his night, and he won. It was his night, but I still think we have unfinished business. I didn’t do 20 percent of what I’m capable of.”
The Nova Uniao fighter wasn’t surprised by anything Warren did in the bout, but that was not enough to stop his attacks.
“He did everything I expected him to do in the fight, but I was seconds behind him,” Dantas said. “I knew he would try to take me down to avoid standing with me, throw knees in the clinch and everything, but knowing he would do it wasn’t enough to stop him from doing it.”
Dantas drops to 6-1 under the Bellator banner with this loss, while Warren improves to 10-2 inside the promotion’s cage.
Eduardo Dantas lost the Bellator bantamweight title to Joe Warren on Oct. 10, but he wants another five rounds against “The Baddest Man on the Planet.” Dantas held the 135-pound championship for two and a half years, and he feels he deserves an immediate rematch after a unanimous decision loss in Thackerville, Okla.
“I want this rematch. I want to fight him again,” “Dudu” told MMAFighting.com after Bellator 128. “I believe I deserve it because I was the champion for two years, I waited for Bellator to do tournaments so I could fight again, and defended my title twice. And I don’t think he defeated me convincingly. We need to fight again. He really is a tough athlete, but he didn’t defeat me convincingly.
“I want to get the title back,” he added. “I have no injuries at all. I will get back to training next week to train and fix my mistakes. I promise you a new ‘Dudu’ Dantas, more intelligent and more aggressive. I will focus and train more wrestling now.”
Dantas won’t protest the judges’ call, and won’t even talk about the illegal kick Warren landed in the fifth round, which could have led to a draw if the referee had deducted a point. The Brazilian says Warren deservedly won, but still has “unfinished business” with the new champion.
“It was a tough fight, and it was Warren’s night. He did everything right, did the right strategy and won, but I didn’t fight well,” he said. “I don’t understand what happened. I didn’t do any combinations I trained, I didn’t do anything.
“I was in the best shape of my life, I was well prepared, but I don’t know what happened to me. It was his night, and he won. It was his night, but I still think we have unfinished business. I didn’t do 20 percent of what I’m capable of.”
The Nova Uniao fighter wasn’t surprised by anything Warren did in the bout, but that was not enough to stop his attacks.
“He did everything I expected him to do in the fight, but I was seconds behind him,” Dantas said. “I knew he would try to take me down to avoid standing with me, throw knees in the clinch and everything, but knowing he would do it wasn’t enough to stop him from doing it.”
Dantas drops to 6-1 under the Bellator banner with this loss, while Warren improves to 10-2 inside the promotion’s cage.