After Bellator 60 loss, Joe Warren's manager critical of ref, confirms moves 135

Joe Warren has been suspended for 90 days following a vicious knockout loss to Pat Curran at this past Friday's Bellator 60 event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today requested and received a short list of suspensions from the Indiana Gaming Commission's athletic division.

Warren's manager, Ryan Tobin, told MMAjunkie.com the former Bellator champ sustained a concussion during the fight will no longer compete at 145 pounds.

Curran (17-4 MMA, 7-1 BFC) took the featherweight belt from Warren (7-3 MMA, 5-2 BFC) with a barrage of punches in the third round of their fight, which headlined this past Friday's event at The Venue at Horseshoe Hammond in Hammond, Ind. It was part of the MTV2-televised main card.

Tobin confirmed that Warren vomited backstage after the fight, which he attributed to the punches and "exhaustion." Warren was then taken to the hospital, where tests cleared him of permanent brain damage.

The fight's stoppage was almost immediately criticized by fans and pundits. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney later said he thought it was stopped too late, and Curran said the same in an interview today with "The MMA Show."

Commission director Andy Means declined to comment on the performance of Jeff Malott, who as referee waved the bout off at the 1:25 mark of the third round after Warren slumped to the canvas.

"As we do with every event, we will meet as a staff to review the performance of all officials and deal with any performance issues internally as they arise," Means wrote in an email to MMAjunkie.com.

Means did say that commission officials are "held to the same standard as other licensees in regards to disciplinary action" and are "held to a performance standard."

"We are constantly re-evaluating the standing of each official as they complete events," Means stated. "Any issues, small or large, are discussed with that individual directly to help improve their ability.

"If those issues become habitual and performance starts to slip, they then are subject to a number of different things such as not being assigned to as many events or any events at all, official reprimands, or potentially having a license suspended."

Tobin said Warren weighed in at 140 pounds on the night of the fight. Curran's cousin and coach, Jeff Curran, previously stated that Pat Curran cuts weight from 160 pounds, though his weight on fight night is unknown.

"He fought like a warrior," Tobin said. "That's the nature of the sport. Clearly, the size that he had at that weight class [against] someone who was coming down from such a big weight, it had its toll.

"Quite frankly, we're very upset with how the referee decided to call that final 15 seconds of that fight. We probably could have avoided a long night in the hospital if he would have recognized the damage. It's a title fight, and you want to give the guy every chance to recover, but when the guy's defenseless and turns his back, that's kind of the point where the ref needs to know to call the fight."

Tobin said Warren's next move is to try out for the U.S. Olympic wrestling team in hopes of making the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London. He plans to compete at 132 pounds.

When the fighter returns to the cage, it will be at 135 pounds. Prior to his fight with Curran, Warren entered Bellator's season-five bantamweight tournament and was knocked out in the opening round by Alexis Villa.

But despite the recent setbacks, Tobin said Warren will soldier on.

"He's got his eyes set back on that 135-pound weight class," Tobin said. "We're officially out of 145 for good."

That ref was horrible and it´s his fault if Warren got brain damage in this fight. He should have stopped it the first time Warren fell back into the cage, he was out on his feet.

Best ref ever....it's a shame he didn't let it go 5 more seconds.





fuck joe warren

DatsikCrim wrote:Best ref ever....it's a shame he didn't let it go 5 more seconds.





fuck joe warren

If you hate Warren I guess the ref was awesome. It looked almost scary to me how much punishment he took.

I hate Warren but yes, it was obviously stopped too late, if I'm being completely impartial.

I think Warren's career is over. At BW there are some real killers in Bellator.