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.