411 MMA Interviews: Joe Warren
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 02.12.2010
Featherweight Joe Warren speaks to 411 about his Dream Featherweight Grand Prix run, defeating Kid Yamamoto, signing with Bellator Fighting Championships and more! Check out the full interview for all the details…
Joe Warren (2-1) is still an MMA rookie, having debuted in March of 2009 in the DREAM organization by defeating former WEC Bantamweight Champion, Chase Beebe, in the opening round of the DREAM Featherweight Grand Prix. Warren followed that up with a decision victory over the legendary Japanese fighter, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto in only his second ever career fight. The long-time wrestler has now recently signed with the Bellator organization where he will be competing this year in their featherweight tournament while also still planning to fight again for DREAM this year and still compete in Olympic wrestling in the near future. Warren was getting ready to do his promotional tour for Bellator when he spoke with me over the phone
Jeffrey Harris: Do you plan on competing at featherweight in Bellator?
Joe Warren: Yeah, that's probably my division. It's nice that I'm not gonna -- I'm going to try and bump up a little bit here. 145, that's really probably more comfortable in my weight class to what I weigh now. So just one less day of weight cut. Urijah Faber, Mendes, and the boys up there at Ultimate Fitness, the 145'ers are getting me ready here. They're training [Scott] Jorgensen and stuff and he's always been here too.
Jeffrey Harris: What do you think happened in that last fight with Bibiano Fernandes?
Joe Warren: I know what happened is I got my belts taken from me and I was embarrassed. I'm a new fighter. I get excited. I should've listened to my coaches and followed our game plan. I got a hold of Bibiano, and he was a lot weaker than what I expected.
Jeffrey Harris: Did you not follow the game plan in that fight?
Joe Warren: Yeah, I was . . . I feel like I have gained a lot from that loss. But it's my fault. Our game plan was to stay on the feet with him for a little bit and then smash him on the ground, but I got real excited. I grabbed a hold of him and he was a lot weaker than what I expected. I could hold him so easy that I tried to slam him onto the ground and tried to finish him when I should've maybe played it a little cooler -- you know he's a champion. I don't take anything from him. He's one of the best jujitsu guys you're ever going to see and I didn't respect it as much as I should've and see what happens. I lose 100 grand and my belts. And when I wake up, I know that you know and I'll take that back. I'll get a hold of Bibiano again and break his fucking neck.
Jeffrey Harris: Do you feel he had you done in that armbar?
Joe Warren: My problem is I'm a wrestler and I get in some funky positions a lot where I didn't think it was a problem. So I've been in that kind of funky position before, and I didn't react as fast as I should have. So I wasn't -- he was pretty high up on my arm. It didn't feel like I was going to be in a position where I would be tapping, but after going home and watching it, I can see why the ref stopped it. So it's very disappointing for me, but I learned my lesson. Let's put it that way . . . I watched it 100 times in slow motion and it was my fault. I mean -- now, I would usually drop my head and step over his back, and I just waited too long. I got caught in something really nice, and if I was in the ref's side I would've stopped it too after watching it on TV. It looked a lot worse. So, we've moved on from that. We learn from our mistakes.
Jeffrey Harris: I don't think you have anything to be ashamed of considering the best fighters like your friend Dan Henderson have been submitted by some great fighters. And you had a very impressive for all intents and purposes rookie year.
Joe Warren: Oh yeah. And I think the thing is, I've really crammed, like crammed for a test in MMA, two and a half weeks before the first fight I was snowboarding in Aspen and I got a call from Heath [Sims], "We got you in a fight in Japan. In like 3 weeks." So I flew right from there to start training. So it was just like jamming for a test the whole time. I didn't get any time to relax and learn something. And these last few months, I've really been able to slow it down. I'm opening a gym right now in Denver and really kind of got to slow it down and I'm understanding striking and more jujitsu. And I'm giving everything I have to mixed martial arts and I respect it a lot more now than I did. There's a lot of technique that goes into being a mixed martial artist, and it's going to take some time here to get some of the technique down. But I'm open-minded to my training. We're getting better every day. And I'm just really happy to be able to fight and win another belt here in the next few months in the states. That's great for me. I've won everything for this country, now maybe I get the chance to win some belts in it.
Jeffrey Harris: In your second career fight, you faced Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto. I don't think many people believed you could win that fight besides yourself and Team Quest. Guy Metzger on commentary I think even said your management shouldn't have let you take the fight and you were making a big mistake. But you really seemed to set the pace and made it your fight.
Joe Warren: That's what I needed to do. I mean, he's a great champion. The one thing with me, I'm used to competing against the best person that country has. In wrestling, they're training one guy that I'm going to wrestle, his whole life for that one tournament. So to be able to fight a guy like that here, it was comfortable for me to fight a guy that was real comfortable in his skills. I knew I didn't have the skill set to beat him, but if it was going to be a throwdown beatdown fight, I'd win. I just pushed pace. I was very sloppy, not very technical. I got the job done. I won the wrestling match there. So I mean, they wanted me to fight him again and I told them I'd be happy to fight that guy any day of the week. I'm not worried about those guys right now. My confidence level is starting to grow a little bit in fighting. I'm able to stand in front of people and not be more nervous. My hands are starting to come a little bit better. My body movement. We're just open minded man. Keep dreaming. I would rather fight the big name then someone that's not a big name. It's more comfortable for me. I perform better in a big crowd and a little more pressure. It's always been my deal. There's more money in big fights and there's more attention and I'd like that.
Jeffrey Harris: You talk about a test in MMA, Yamamoto was a hell of a test because he was trying to get you with a lot of his kickboxing.
Joe Warren: He hit me with everything he had. I'll tell you right now. He's a great technician.
Jeffrey Harris: Did Yamamoto ever hurt you during that fight?
Joe Warren: Oh no, shit, I had like 4 total bruises on my inner thigh and my left side and that was it. He kicked me in the balls like 5 times like real, real hard. And he did it a few times to try and slow me down, but I wasn't going to stop until they stopped that fight. So I had a bruised groin, but besides that I was still focused -- the mindset of wrestling that match in one day. But they were very respectful over in Japan. I really enjoyed fighting there. I enjoy the crowd and how knowledgeable they are about this sport. So I was happy to get the opportunity with Bellator, to maybe still win the Olympics, and maybe still win that belt in DREAM and Bellator. So I should have a real big year coming. I'm looking at 7 big wins and we should have a good next year also.
Jeffrey Harris: So why Bellator? Is competing in another tournament one of the bigger motivations?
Joe Warren: I enjoy the tournament aspect and atmosphere. I enjoy knowing exactly when I'm fighting, exactly who I'm fighting, things like that. That's a comfortable situation for me. Bellator is a young organization. It's upcoming. It's got a lot of good backing. I agree with a lot of their marketing strategies. I like that their real excited to have me. They understand what I'm going to bring to the table. I'm going to get better every single time. And they're going to let me fight in Japan and wrestle in the Olympics. So to me, that's a win-win deal. They came back and gave me what I wanted and I'm real, real, real excited to be a part of that organization.
Jeffrey Harris: Any ideas on who your first opponent will be in Bellator?
Joe Warren: I don't care. It doesn't bother me. Somebody.
Jeffrey Harris: Did you get any hostility in Japan after beating their guy? Or were the fans pretty accepting of you?
Joe Warren: They were pretty accepting. What they did was -- you know we had a real, true fight. We fought hard. And it came down to the judges. I think they understood that. I think they were happy. I think they probably want to see a rematch over there which I'd be happy to beat his ass again. So I'm not worried too much about that. But they really kind of opened arms and took me in. They wanted me to win that tournament so they were upset that I lost.
Jeffrey Harris: Is submission defense something you are focusing on right now in training?
Joe Warren: I made the mistake, OK. If I would've been a little calmer and kept my left hand in his arm instead of rolling it across his face and trying to finish him, he would've never have got that move. I did exactly what I was not supposed to do. He had one chance to beat me and he did it. The sun shines on a dog's ass one time every day and you know that. So I mean, he went for his and he got it. I can't take anything away from him. But he's not going to get it again. I'll never make that mistake again. It's probably the worst and the best thing that happened to me. Lost 100 grand caught in a submission, but I've learned where I need to be and what positions I need to be in. So it turned a corner in MMA for me after that loss.
Jeffrey Harris: So how many times do you plan on fighting this year?
Joe Warren: I'm going to fight 7 times this year. 3 fights in DREAM. 3 fights in Bellator, and then the big Bellator belt fight in September. That's the fights.
Jeffrey Harris: Is Bibiano on your radar and how badly do you want a rematch with him?
Joe Warren: It's the only thing on my radar right now. He's got the belt that I want and I'm already trying to make sure who ever wins between Hansen and him, I get that fight.
Jeffrey Harris: There seems to be some tension between the two of you, have you worked that out?
Joe Warren: He's scared of me because I'm going to beat the shit out of him and he knows it. He got lucky. He got lucky and he caught me and he taught me that a veteran like him could catch a rookie like me and I made a bad mistake. And it won't happen again. The reason he lost his shit after he beat me was because he couldn't believe he won. I was in his head. I was taunting him a little bit at the weigh-ins. I was in his head. So when he did pull that off, he couldn't believe it. He won a great tournament. I won't take anything away from him. To win a championship like that, you got to be a badass. He can take that belt. He can keep one of them. I'll take the other one.
Jeffrey Harris: So you're married and just had a baby?
Joe Warren: Yeah, I'm married to Christy Chec and I have a baby boy, Xander Warren. He's 18 months, 19 months almost. And I have a baby girl coming March 5.
Jeffrey Harris: How rough is it traveling and fighting around the world and being away from your family?
Joe Warren: That's why I'm opening this gym. It's called the Rhino Sports Gallery. It's in Denver, Colorado. And that's where I'll be doing all my training for all of my fighting career from now on. And my family will be up in Denver with me. And at least I'll be able to go to practice, train hard, and do what I need to do, teach my wrestling club, and still be home at night with the family. Right now, I'm training at Team Quest in Temecula and up at Urijah's gym and Scotty Jorgensen's gym. So I've been traveling a lot. So I'll be really happy to actually have a home to train in. It's going to be we hope to be the best ground fighting camp in the world. We're going to do everything we can to have real, tough guys training in there every day to win. So, the travel I've been on the Olympic team for several years and I travel to a different country every month. So I'm used to the travel. I'm really excited about the opportunity to do all my training in Denver. Traveling sucks for the family, but if you can keep everything in perspective, then it's OK. I got a great support cast. My wife, Christy Chec, is -- I don't even know what to say about her. She's my backbone. She's telling me if I can do it, I can do it. So, that's the plan.
Jeffrey Harris: So it sounds like you do plan on going for the Olympics again. What is the plan for that?
Joe Warren: That's something that's still on my plate, but we're really worried about the practice today, not the Olympics in two years. I figured out this last weekend, I didn't train at all for this wrestling tournament at Colorado Springs. I lost two matches which was very disappointing for me. I thought I could just go in there and wrestle and not worry about it. And I don't do well without winning. So I didn't train. It's a whole other animal trying to jump in there and wrestle the Olympic level when I've been doing MMA only. So we're going to focus on the next year as winning as many fights as we can. And then, when the time does come around for me to take some time off from MMA for me to train for the Olympics, if we're in that situation, we're going to do that. But right now we're worried about this fight in April, worried about getting a quick win there and then moving forward.
Jeffrey Harris: What do you think of Urijah Faber and how do you like training with him?
Joe Warren: You know Urijah and Scott Jorgensen, I can't speak highly enough about them. They've helped me a lot. They're camps at Team Quest; it's a real good friendship. We're all from the same background, a wrestling background. And they're all legit guys. So I see those 2 as my main training partners. And I think he'll be the champ soon enough, Urijah will. So he's got his camp going on with Chad Mendes. And I'm going to be there this Monday to train up there. And Scott Jorgensen comes into the Rhino in Denver to do a week training camp before he goes and fights in March. And Urijah will be in Denver with me in March. So I should have everything I need to win this first fight.
Jeffrey Harris: So when and where will your first fight in 2010 go down?
Joe Warren: I think it's supposed to be April 9 at the Hardrock in Miami.
Jeffrey Harris: So you'll actually be fighting in your home country for the first time.
Joe Warren: Yeah, and in a cage.
Jeffrey Harris: Do you think you will feel more comfortable in the cage?
Joe Warren: I think the style that I bring to fighting is a cage style fighting. I have somebody pressured that he can't get away in a cage . . . you can't really get away from someone in a cage. It's a new experience for me too, and I'm real excited to see how good I am in there.
Jeffrey Harris: Any sponsors or people you would like to thank?
Joe Warren: Oh yeah, I would like to thank the Bellator organization for doing everything that they could to come around on this contract and make me part of their organization because we're real happy. I'd like to thank Team Quest and Clinch Gear. They've been behind me from the bottom line. I'd like to thank my wife because without her I wouldn't be here right now. And I'd just like to thank everybody excited to be able to watch me fight again because I'm excited to fight for them. So really positive and excited to get in there in April.
Jeffrey Harris: Thank you Joe and good luck to you.
Joe Warren: Thanks a lot.
Thank you to Joe Warren for taking the time to speak with us. Remember to check out 411mania.com/mma for more news on the upcoming Bellator Fighting Championships events. Also, you can find us easier by bookmarking us to your favorite places or saving us as your homepage to get your quickest fix on MMA, wrestling, boxing, videogames, movies, entertainment, and politics. You can also follow 411mania on Twitter:
