Eduardo Dantas may have lost the Bellator bantamweight title to Joe Warren, but he says he is ready for a rematch.
Dantas held the title for two and half years but finally lost it in controversial fashion to the new champion on October 10.
“I want this rematch. I want to fight him again,” Dantas told MMAFighting.com after Bellator 128. “I believe I deserve it because I was the champion for two years, I waited for Bellator to do tournaments so I could fight again, and defended my title twice. And I don’t think he defeated me convincingly. We need to fight again. He really is a tough athlete, but he didn’t defeat me convincingly.
“I want to get the title back,” he added. “I have no injuries at all. I will get back to training next week to train and fix my mistakes. I promise you a new ‘Dudu’ Dantas, more intelligent and more aggressive. I will focus and train more wrestling now.”
The original fight was decided by decision and was highlighted by an illegal kick that Warren managed to land (and get away with) in the fifth round. If a point had been deducted by the referee for the move, Dantas would have retained.
“I was in the best shape of my life, I was well prepared, but I don’t know what happened to me. It was his night, and he won. It was his night, but I still think we have unfinished business. I didn’t do 20 percent of what I’m capable of.”
