Joe Warren promises to give Eduardo Dantas a ‘family ass-beating affair’

The press releases and promotional materials may sell Bellator 128’s main event as a title unification bout, but don’t tell that to the man wearing the interim strap. After being burned by a six-day notice cancellation of their summer meeting, Joe Warren tends to reject the idea that young Brazilian bantamweight Eduardo Dantas can still call himself a rightful Bellator champion.

“I’m the champion now. I have the belt around my waist now,” Warren told MMAFighting.com. “He has pulled out for the last year. Bellator pretty much let me know for the last year that this guy would never fight again, so I don’t believe a lot of things this kid says. I’ve been scheduled to fight him twice now in the last year, and he’s backed out both times.”

Dantas and Warren were initially slated to tangle in May, however less than a week out from fight night Bellator officials announced that Dantas would be “sidelined indefinitely” due to a head injury suffered in training. Warren went on to defeat Rafael Silva on short notice to grab the promotion’s interim title, but the relationship between he and Dantas since has grown acrimonious, to say the least.

“There was no injury there,” Warren said. “He was having panic attacks, man. He’s a young kid. Let’s be honest, man, it’s scary to fight. There’s not a smooth transition into what we do, getting into a cage and beating each other until one of us goes to the hospital. He was having some panic attacks, passing out, stuff like that. They medically found nothing wrong with him, and he still wouldn’t fight. So I think he’s a young fighter and I think I might have gotten into his head a little bit.”

The two bantamweights have traded barbs over social media in the months since Dantas’ initial withdrawal, hurling kindling over an already smoldering fire. For the most part, the talk has been the usual fare for opponents who don’t particularly care for one another, although of late things have grown a bit personal, as Dantas has repeatedly accused Warren of steroid abuse, even recently telling MMAFighting.com that he briefly considered requesting enhanced drug testing for the pair’s fight.

Warren failed drug tests in both 2006 and 2007 back when he was still vying to be an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler, however both of those tests were for marijuana, so the 37-year-old takes exception with what he feels are baseless accusations.

“[Dantas] has no idea,” said Warren. “It was a THC test in a wrestling event. You’re talking marijuana, you’re not talking anything like [steroids]. That’s crazy. He’s so immature he doesn’t even understand the difference between the tests. To me, it kind of makes me laugh. I told Bellator I’d be happy to take any test that he wanted to take.

“That’s the thing, you get into a young kid’s head, you never know. He’s not used to trash talking. Me, when I trash talk, it’s all completely honest, so I’m telling you the truth and it sucks to hear it. It’s trash talk when it’s the truth. So I don’t know where he’s coming from with all of this.”

Rivalry aside, Warren understands what he’s getting into on Friday night.

With time on his side and a lanky 5-foot-10 frame to match his athletic style, the 25-year-old Dantas is believed to be one of the top bantamweights in the world outside of the UFC umbrella. Warren calls him a “young superstar,” a fighter “who you like to build your brand around,” but compliments alone won’t win a fight, and Warren is nothing if not a tough out. All that extra motivation, the insults, the accusations, the social media nonsense — those are just gravy.

“My wife never gets personal about any of these fights or wrestling matches. She’s a veteran, she’s been there in my corner for every single world championship I’ve ever had,” Warren said. “But [Dantas] has upset my wife. She’s upset that the guy keeps pulling out of the fight. I’m a professional. I fight for money, I fight for my family, but he keeps pulling out of fights, which jeopardizes my family just because he’s scared.

“And then when he throws all these crazy accusations out there, it upsets her even more. She understands how I train, what I do and how I am, so it just upsets her. So this is the first fight she wants me to put this guy down. She’s asking me to hurt this kid for her. So it’s going to be a family ass-beating affair.”

The press releases and promotional materials may sell Bellator 128’s main event as a title unification bout, but don’t tell that to the man wearing the interim strap. After being burned by a six-day notice cancellation of their summer meeting, Joe Warren tends to reject the idea that young Brazilian bantamweight Eduardo Dantas can still call himself a rightful Bellator champion.

“I’m the champion now. I have the belt around my waist now,” Warren told MMAFighting.com. “He has pulled out for the last year. Bellator pretty much let me know for the last year that this guy would never fight again, so I don’t believe a lot of things this kid says. I’ve been scheduled to fight him twice now in the last year, and he’s backed out both times.”

Dantas and Warren were initially slated to tangle in May, however less than a week out from fight night Bellator officials announced that Dantas would be “sidelined indefinitely” due to a head injury suffered in training. Warren went on to defeat Rafael Silva on short notice to grab the promotion’s interim title, but the relationship between he and Dantas since has grown acrimonious, to say the least.

“There was no injury there,” Warren said. “He was having panic attacks, man. He’s a young kid. Let’s be honest, man, it’s scary to fight. There’s not a smooth transition into what we do, getting into a cage and beating each other until one of us goes to the hospital. He was having some panic attacks, passing out, stuff like that. They medically found nothing wrong with him, and he still wouldn’t fight. So I think he’s a young fighter and I think I might have gotten into his head a little bit.”

The two bantamweights have traded barbs over social media in the months since Dantas’ initial withdrawal, hurling kindling over an already smoldering fire. For the most part, the talk has been the usual fare for opponents who don’t particularly care for one another, although of late things have grown a bit personal, as Dantas has repeatedly accused Warren of steroid abuse, even recently telling MMAFighting.com that he briefly considered requesting enhanced drug testing for the pair’s fight.

Warren failed drug tests in both 2006 and 2007 back when he was still vying to be an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler, however both of those tests were for marijuana, so the 37-year-old takes exception with what he feels are baseless accusations.

“[Dantas] has no idea,” said Warren. “It was a THC test in a wrestling event. You’re talking marijuana, you’re not talking anything like [steroids]. That’s crazy. He’s so immature he doesn’t even understand the difference between the tests. To me, it kind of makes me laugh. I told Bellator I’d be happy to take any test that he wanted to take.

“That’s the thing, you get into a young kid’s head, you never know. He’s not used to trash talking. Me, when I trash talk, it’s all completely honest, so I’m telling you the truth and it sucks to hear it. It’s trash talk when it’s the truth. So I don’t know where he’s coming from with all of this.”

Rivalry aside, Warren understands what he’s getting into on Friday night.

With time on his side and a lanky 5-foot-10 frame to match his athletic style, the 25-year-old Dantas is believed to be one of the top bantamweights in the world outside of the UFC umbrella. Warren calls him a “young superstar,” a fighter “who you like to build your brand around,” but compliments alone won’t win a fight, and Warren is nothing if not a tough out. All that extra motivation, the insults, the accusations, the social media nonsense — those are just gravy.

“My wife never gets personal about any of these fights or wrestling matches. She’s a veteran, she’s been there in my corner for every single world championship I’ve ever had,” Warren said. “But [Dantas] has upset my wife. She’s upset that the guy keeps pulling out of the fight. I’m a professional. I fight for money, I fight for my family, but he keeps pulling out of fights, which jeopardizes my family just because he’s scared.

“And then when he throws all these crazy accusations out there, it upsets her even more. She understands how I train, what I do and how I am, so it just upsets her. So this is the first fight she wants me to put this guy down. She’s asking me to hurt this kid for her. So it’s going to be a family ass-beating affair.”