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Report: Joe Warren positive for pot following Bellator 143

Joe Warren

Joe Warren

Former Bellator featherweight and bantamweight champ Joe Warren tested positive for marijuana following his decision win over L.C. Davis at this past month’s Bellator 143, according to a recent post on TheMMAReport.com.

Warren (12-4 MMA, 10-3 BMMA) faces a 90-day suspension after a post-fight test showed he barely missed the allowable cutoff for marijuana metabolites in his system, coming in at 53 ng/ml, or 3 ng/ml over the limit allowed by the Texas Combative Sports Program, which oversaw his fight on Sept. 25 in Hidalgo.

A Bellator official told MMAjunkie he could not confirm or deny Warren’s positive test as he hadn’t received anything official from the commission.

Warren was rumored to have agreed to a short-notice title rematch against champ Marcus Galvao at Bellator 144, which takes place Oct. 23 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Galvao was left without an opponent when ex-champ Eduardo Dantas suffered a training injury and was forced to drop out of the event.

Bellator thereafter announced Galvao vs. Dantas 2 is postponed to a later date. Warren, however, is considered to be in the running to face the fight’s winner, the Bellator official said.

It’s the second time a positive marijuana test has impacted Warren’s athletic career. He was suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for two years after a second positive test for the drug in 2007. Appealing his punishment, he told arbitrators he used the drug to combat depression and a sleep disorder.

In a 2013 interview with MMAjunkie, he said he maintained a medical marijuana license in two states; he resides in Colorado, where the drug is legalized for recreational use.

This past month, prior to his fight, he was sympathetic to Nick Diaz, who was suspended five years for a third positive pot test, but said the UFC veteran broke a rule and had to deal with it.

For complete coverage of Bellator 143, check out the MMA Events section of the site.

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