To Fight in a Scary Sport, Joe Warren Convinces Himself He’s the Baddest Man in the World
Greg Savage Oct 5, 2009
No one is ever going to accuse Joe Warren of
being shy about anything, especially his opinion of his athletic
ability. The boisterous former Greco-Roman world champion -- a
nonstop ball of energy inside the gym and out -- has the résumé to
back up his confident and sometimes cocky demeanor.
Guys with credentials like his -- he was a state champion wrestler in high school and a college All-American at Michigan in addition to being a decorated international competitor -- don’t happen upon the MMA world everyday. And if not for an unexpected twist of fate, Warren may have never been inclined to give MMA a try.
Warren (2-0) took home the 132-pound title at the 2006 World
Championships in Guangzhou, China. He hoped to pursue a gold medal
at the 2008 Beijing games, but those hopes were dashed when he
failed a drug test in May 2007.
It was the second time -- the first coming in 2006 -- that Warren had been found with marijuana in his system.
His two-year suspension was upheld, and he not only missed the chance to defend his world title in 2007 but also it cost him his dreams of Olympic gold, at least for the time being.
“I am going to win the Olympics in 2012,” says a defiant Warren, who is training at Team Quest in Murrieta, Calif., for his third MMA match. “I am not even close to being done wrestling.”
The banishment was a tough pill to swallow for Warren, who was certain he was going to win. Throw in the fact that marijuana is hardly a difference maker on the mat and you have a recipe for complete frustration.
“I just feel like I wasn’t doing something to hurt my sport. I wasn’t helping myself competitively,” he says. “It just annoys me. I made the mistake. It’s my fault; that’s the deal, but yeah, I am sad about it because I was ready and I would have won.”
With his suspension in place until July 2009, the native of Grand Rapids, Mich., decided it was time for him to scratch his competitive itch in the MMA arena.
He entered the Dream featherweight grand prix and rattled off wins over former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe and Norifumi Yamamoto, long thought of as one of the premier fighters in the lighter weight classes.
Not too shabby for a total newcomer to the jiu-jitsu and standup aspects of the sport.
Warren is now in position to do something truly special. With a pair of wins Oct. 6 in Japan, he would take home the tournament title despite having zero professional experience prior to entering it.
The funny thing is, when you mention that possibility, Warren shrugs as if it is no big deal. His confidence stands out in an environment full of self-assured athletes.
Where does it come from?
“It’s training, it’s believing in myself, it’s self-confidence, and people don’t understand how far that goes,” explains the 32-year-old wrestler. “I brainwash the s--t out of myself all the time. You know, I wake up and I’m not feeling good: I just get in that shower and try to refocus and calm down and get my head on straight and say, ‘All right, leave all this bulls--t you’re thinking about right here in the shower and go to practice and stay open-minded and happy and push hard.’ If you have two hours in a practice, that’s nothing in your life, but you know how much you can gain in a couple hours if you stay focused?’”
And staying sharp for his five hours of training a day seems like a simple task in contrast to his pregnant wife’s Herculean efforts. Warren says she handles a full-time job and his 1-year-old son in Denver without family to support her.
“She is what pushes me through,” boasts the soon-to-be second-time father. “I am telling you, a lot of people don’t have that structure at home, that confidence, that ‘you can do this, I believe in you, I love you,’ stuff like that.”
Like most other wrestlers who have crossed the bridge to MMA, Warren is certain his discipline is the best base for his new sport, both fundamentally and psychologically.
According to him, wrestling for his country -- where victory means so much to so many -- has instilled in Warren a mental toughness he is not sure any of his MMA opponents have acquired.
“[My opponents] haven’t been in the kind of competition, the levels that I have. You know, the ‘you win for your country and not for yourself.’ So you learn that mental toughness, how to push through things and stay focused, and I think all this stuff coming up to now, I think [MMA] is what I was made for.
“This mixed martial arts is right up my alley,” Warren says. “I was always a violent wrestler and I just wanted to take it to the next level.”
That next level is not without its hazards, though.
“I talk myself into it. I tell myself I am the baddest man in the world, no one can touch me, and I talk myself into this before these fights. Before I walk out there I am confident. I believe that I am winning, that I have already won, but it’s scary s--t out there,” Warren admits. “It’s different than wrestling. I don’t f--king like it. It’s fun to win, but that s--t’s not fun when they blow that whistle.”
With just two fights under his belt, Warren understands he still has a lot to learn. Every fight brings more comfort and familiarity, but he can’t help but laugh at his own greenness.
“During the Chase fight, I was listening to his corner the whole time. I couldn’t hear my corner and [Beebe’s corner] were like, ‘jab, jab, cross, knee, knee, knee.’ So I would just throw knees because I could hear them,” Warren says with a chuckle. “Joey Gilbert wrestled at Michigan. He was in the corner, and I could hear his ass because he’s got a funny voice. I would just do what he was saying and I think that messed with Chase a little bit.”
Warren may have been at a disadvantage, but he made the most of it. And when push came to shove, he had an enormous vault of competitive experience to call on.
“I remember in the Chase Beebe fight, six minutes into it, I took a step back and said ‘I’m losing. Push, push, push.’ You know, what you do in wrestling. So my hands dropped, and I just started wrestling.”
He would stop Beebe by technical knockout, adding another volume to his vast collection of confidence-boosting memories. He kept the momentum going against “Kid” and will try to keep his unbeaten streak alive when he takes on grappling ace Bibiano Fernandes in the semis of the tournament. Should he win -- something that is a foregone conclusion for Warren -- he will have to face the winner of the other semi between Hiroyuki Takaya and Hideo Tokoro that same evening.
“I am bringing that belt home with me,” Warren predicts. “I can guarantee that.”
Guys with credentials like his -- he was a state champion wrestler in high school and a college All-American at Michigan in addition to being a decorated international competitor -- don’t happen upon the MMA world everyday. And if not for an unexpected twist of fate, Warren may have never been inclined to give MMA a try.
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It was the second time -- the first coming in 2006 -- that Warren had been found with marijuana in his system.
It would cost him dearly.
His two-year suspension was upheld, and he not only missed the chance to defend his world title in 2007 but also it cost him his dreams of Olympic gold, at least for the time being.
“I am going to win the Olympics in 2012,” says a defiant Warren, who is training at Team Quest in Murrieta, Calif., for his third MMA match. “I am not even close to being done wrestling.”
The banishment was a tough pill to swallow for Warren, who was certain he was going to win. Throw in the fact that marijuana is hardly a difference maker on the mat and you have a recipe for complete frustration.
“I just feel like I wasn’t doing something to hurt my sport. I wasn’t helping myself competitively,” he says. “It just annoys me. I made the mistake. It’s my fault; that’s the deal, but yeah, I am sad about it because I was ready and I would have won.”
With his suspension in place until July 2009, the native of Grand Rapids, Mich., decided it was time for him to scratch his competitive itch in the MMA arena.
He entered the Dream featherweight grand prix and rattled off wins over former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe and Norifumi Yamamoto, long thought of as one of the premier fighters in the lighter weight classes.
Not too shabby for a total newcomer to the jiu-jitsu and standup aspects of the sport.
Warren is now in position to do something truly special. With a pair of wins Oct. 6 in Japan, he would take home the tournament title despite having zero professional experience prior to entering it.
The funny thing is, when you mention that possibility, Warren shrugs as if it is no big deal. His confidence stands out in an environment full of self-assured athletes.
Where does it come from?
“It’s training, it’s believing in myself, it’s self-confidence, and people don’t understand how far that goes,” explains the 32-year-old wrestler. “I brainwash the s--t out of myself all the time. You know, I wake up and I’m not feeling good: I just get in that shower and try to refocus and calm down and get my head on straight and say, ‘All right, leave all this bulls--t you’re thinking about right here in the shower and go to practice and stay open-minded and happy and push hard.’ If you have two hours in a practice, that’s nothing in your life, but you know how much you can gain in a couple hours if you stay focused?’”
And staying sharp for his five hours of training a day seems like a simple task in contrast to his pregnant wife’s Herculean efforts. Warren says she handles a full-time job and his 1-year-old son in Denver without family to support her.
“She is what pushes me through,” boasts the soon-to-be second-time father. “I am telling you, a lot of people don’t have that structure at home, that confidence, that ‘you can do this, I believe in you, I love you,’ stuff like that.”
Like most other wrestlers who have crossed the bridge to MMA, Warren is certain his discipline is the best base for his new sport, both fundamentally and psychologically.
According to him, wrestling for his country -- where victory means so much to so many -- has instilled in Warren a mental toughness he is not sure any of his MMA opponents have acquired.
“[My opponents] haven’t been in the kind of competition, the levels that I have. You know, the ‘you win for your country and not for yourself.’ So you learn that mental toughness, how to push through things and stay focused, and I think all this stuff coming up to now, I think [MMA] is what I was made for.
“This mixed martial arts is right up my alley,” Warren says. “I was always a violent wrestler and I just wanted to take it to the next level.”
That next level is not without its hazards, though.
“I talk myself into it. I tell myself I am the baddest man in the world, no one can touch me, and I talk myself into this before these fights. Before I walk out there I am confident. I believe that I am winning, that I have already won, but it’s scary s--t out there,” Warren admits. “It’s different than wrestling. I don’t f--king like it. It’s fun to win, but that s--t’s not fun when they blow that whistle.”
With just two fights under his belt, Warren understands he still has a lot to learn. Every fight brings more comfort and familiarity, but he can’t help but laugh at his own greenness.
“During the Chase fight, I was listening to his corner the whole time. I couldn’t hear my corner and [Beebe’s corner] were like, ‘jab, jab, cross, knee, knee, knee.’ So I would just throw knees because I could hear them,” Warren says with a chuckle. “Joey Gilbert wrestled at Michigan. He was in the corner, and I could hear his ass because he’s got a funny voice. I would just do what he was saying and I think that messed with Chase a little bit.”
Warren may have been at a disadvantage, but he made the most of it. And when push came to shove, he had an enormous vault of competitive experience to call on.
“I remember in the Chase Beebe fight, six minutes into it, I took a step back and said ‘I’m losing. Push, push, push.’ You know, what you do in wrestling. So my hands dropped, and I just started wrestling.”
He would stop Beebe by technical knockout, adding another volume to his vast collection of confidence-boosting memories. He kept the momentum going against “Kid” and will try to keep his unbeaten streak alive when he takes on grappling ace Bibiano Fernandes in the semis of the tournament. Should he win -- something that is a foregone conclusion for Warren -- he will have to face the winner of the other semi between Hiroyuki Takaya and Hideo Tokoro that same evening.
“I am bringing that belt home with me,” Warren predicts. “I can guarantee that.”
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