‘Scary American’ Joe Warren has advice for Marcos Galvao: Stop complaining and ‘win a f**king round’

Nearly four years have passed since Joe Warren snuck into Yuma, Ariz. and committed grand larceny on Marcos Galvao, riding out into the desert sunset with a win that even left then-Bellator head honcho Bjorn Rebney scratching his head. The night saw Warren capture a unanimous decision in the judges’ eyes despite struggling to mount any successful offense against Galvao for the fight’s opening 10 minutes, and judge Chuck Wolf’s infamous 30-27 scorecard became just the pièce de résistance to a puzzling evening.

Now, 94 events and one missing Rebney later, Galvao will get his chance at revenge. He’s slated to rematch Warren this Friday in the main event of Bellator 135, where Warren’s bantamweight title will once again be up for grabs. But that doesn’t mean Galvao has gotten over that first meeting, and frankly, Warren is sick of hearing about it.

“It’s pretty much like, how much are you going to talk about this, you know?” Warren told MMAFighting.com. “It was a unanimous decision. 30-27. Win a f**king round and maybe we can talk about it, I tell him. But you know, each his own. That’s on the judges. I’m going to take this out of the judges’ hands this time and hopefully shut this kid’s mouth.”

Warren and Galvao’s careers have largely gone two separate ways since that night. After forfeiting his featherweight title in brutal fashion to Pat Curran, Warren dropped down to bantamweight and accomplished his goal of becoming Bellator’s first two-division titleholder, rolling through season nine’s tournament and grounding former champion Eduardo Dantas in a surprising upset.

Galvao, on the other hand, failed where Warren succeeded against Dantas. He’s racked up three straight wins since, but Warren believes his own growth as a martial artist is what will make the difference in the upcoming rematch. After all, Warren was a relative newcomer to the game back in 2011, a fighter stuck between divisions who had yet to develop a striking game that could compliment his Olympic wrestling pedigree.

“I was winning fights straight wrestling, had no idea what I was doing,” Warren said.

“I don’t even remember a lot of it. It was hot, like 98-degrees outdoors in Yuma, Arizona. I just was different. I didn’t finish a lot of takedowns — I can’t remember, I just kept pulling him on top of me. You know, I take it for what it is. I take that win and I kinda put things behind me. That’s why I’m the champion I am. Once a match or a fight or a belt is won, it’s done, really. I mean, you can dwell on this and love it all you want, but it’s a freakin’ trophy, it’s in my kid’s room. I don’t even see it and I don’t even care.

“I don’t care if he’s gotten better or worse. I don’t give two s**ts. I’m going to crush this kid. He’s opening his mouth and I don’t like it, so the bottom line is, I’m the best Joe Warren that’s ever been in that cage right now, so he’s got a lot to worry about.”

It’s not lost on Warren that in Galvao, the 38-year-old faces the third consecutive Brazilian in a title campaign that’s been contested against nothing but Brazilians. This time, though, Warren is the betting favorite, with memories of his takedown train against Dantas still fresh in oddsmakers’ minds.

Like it or not, it’s an outcome which Warren promised, and he has a similar end in mind for Galvao.

“I’m the scary American who [Brazilians] dream about that they don’t like. That crazy wrestler who you can’t beat,” Warren said.

“I took a lot of things away from [Dantas] — his striking, I was taking him down, I was slowing the pace at certain points. It’s a fight. Once you get in there, you never know what’s going to happen. But I told you exactly what was going to happen that fight. People don’t listen to me, but I’m telling the truth. I’m not being a dick. I just knew exactly how it would go down and I called it exactly.”

Nearly four years have passed since Joe Warren snuck into Yuma, Ariz. and committed grand larceny on Marcos Galvao, riding out into the desert sunset with a win that even left then-Bellator head honcho Bjorn Rebney scratching his head. The night saw Warren capture a unanimous decision in the judges’ eyes despite struggling to mount any successful offense against Galvao for the fight’s opening 10 minutes, and judge Chuck Wolf’s infamous 30-27 scorecard became just the pièce de résistance to a puzzling evening.

Now, 94 events and one missing Rebney later, Galvao will get his chance at revenge. He’s slated to rematch Warren this Friday in the main event of Bellator 135, where Warren’s bantamweight title will once again be up for grabs. But that doesn’t mean Galvao has gotten over that first meeting, and frankly, Warren is sick of hearing about it.

“It’s pretty much like, how much are you going to talk about this, you know?” Warren told MMAFighting.com. “It was a unanimous decision. 30-27. Win a f**king round and maybe we can talk about it, I tell him. But you know, each his own. That’s on the judges. I’m going to take this out of the judges’ hands this time and hopefully shut this kid’s mouth.”

Warren and Galvao’s careers have largely gone two separate ways since that night. After forfeiting his featherweight title in brutal fashion to Pat Curran, Warren dropped down to bantamweight and accomplished his goal of becoming Bellator’s first two-division titleholder, rolling through season nine’s tournament and grounding former champion Eduardo Dantas in a surprising upset.

Galvao, on the other hand, failed where Warren succeeded against Dantas. He’s racked up three straight wins since, but Warren believes his own growth as a martial artist is what will make the difference in the upcoming rematch. After all, Warren was a relative newcomer to the game back in 2011, a fighter stuck between divisions who had yet to develop a striking game that could compliment his Olympic wrestling pedigree.

“I was winning fights straight wrestling, had no idea what I was doing,” Warren said.

“I don’t even remember a lot of it. It was hot, like 98-degrees outdoors in Yuma, Arizona. I just was different. I didn’t finish a lot of takedowns — I can’t remember, I just kept pulling him on top of me. You know, I take it for what it is. I take that win and I kinda put things behind me. That’s why I’m the champion I am. Once a match or a fight or a belt is won, it’s done, really. I mean, you can dwell on this and love it all you want, but it’s a freakin’ trophy, it’s in my kid’s room. I don’t even see it and I don’t even care.

“I don’t care if he’s gotten better or worse. I don’t give two s**ts. I’m going to crush this kid. He’s opening his mouth and I don’t like it, so the bottom line is, I’m the best Joe Warren that’s ever been in that cage right now, so he’s got a lot to worry about.”

It’s not lost on Warren that in Galvao, the 38-year-old faces the third consecutive Brazilian in a title campaign that’s been contested against nothing but Brazilians. This time, though, Warren is the betting favorite, with memories of his takedown train against Dantas still fresh in oddsmakers’ minds.

Like it or not, it’s an outcome which Warren promised, and he has a similar end in mind for Galvao.

“I’m the scary American who [Brazilians] dream about that they don’t like. That crazy wrestler who you can’t beat,” Warren said.

“I took a lot of things away from [Dantas] — his striking, I was taking him down, I was slowing the pace at certain points. It’s a fight. Once you get in there, you never know what’s going to happen. But I told you exactly what was going to happen that fight. People don’t listen to me, but I’m telling the truth. I’m not being a dick. I just knew exactly how it would go down and I called it exactly.”