Two years after beating Eduardo Dantas to claim the Bellator bantamweight title, Joe Warren looks to do the same thing once more on Friday, in the same exact arena.
For Warren (18-4), the self-proclaimed "Baddest Man on the Planet," the sport is all about matchups, and he believes that history will repeat itself.
"I believe I'm a terrible matchup for Dantas," Warren told ESPN.com. "I think he's one of the best fighters in the world, but he's more of a point fighter. A jab and a kick is how he's going to win, and that's not how you beat me. You're going to have to bring everything you have and dig deep into that trench to try to get me."
Friday's Bellator 166 card resonates from the WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma, with Dantas (18-4) defending his 135-pound belt against the 40-year-old Warren (14-5).
In their first meeting at Bellator 128 in October 2014, Dantas entered as the champion while Warren came in with an interim belt he picked up by defeating Rafael Silva, after Dantas suffered a head injury in training earlier in the year.
The bout was hard-fought for 25 minutes, with Warren getting the nod on all three judges' scorecards, 48-47. Warren relied on his Greco-Roman wrestling skills throughout, routinely absorbing a strike to secure a takedown. He was also able to neutralize multiple submission attempts from the Brazilian en route to becoming a two-division champion for Bellator.
Warren went on to drop the belt in his next bout, a second-round submission loss to Marcos Galvao in March 2015. Three months later, Galvao was defeated by Dantas in their second fight at Bellator 156.
Now, in Friday's rematch against Dantas, Warren looks to take the fight into deep waters, where he doesn't expect his opponent will want to go.
"I'm just saying Dantas is ... he's a pretty boy fighter, man. He likes to win with his jabs and his kicks and not get hurt, not get hit," Warren said. "I'm not the person that you can do that with. It's going to have to be a drawn-out war that I'm real comfortable in."
Nine months after suffering a one-sided defeat to Darrion Caldwell (9-1), one might be surprised to see Warren back in the title picture so soon. Especially considering Caldwell's victory appeared to be a star-making performance for the 2009 NCAA champion, who rag-dolled Warren with a takedown before submitting him via rear-naked choke midway through Round 1.
But Caldwell was upset by Joe Taimanglo (who had missed weight) in their No. 1 contender's bout in July via third-round submission. The two will meet again in a rematch Saturday at Bellator 167, also taking place in Thackerville.
Warren believes his loss to Caldwell was largely caused by an early injury which threw him off his game.
"That first takedown, the first minute, I dislocated my kneecap and tore my MCL. I couldn't even stand up," Warren said. "I was never in that situation in a fight and I was not sure what to do. I came up and when things go bad it goes real bad in that cage. I got body-slammed and choked out."
Warren rested and rehabbed, which prevented him from attempting to qualify for the Olympics in Rio (something he called the "saddest" part of the injury). But he claims to be 100 percent, saying age isn't a factor because he doesn't think about it. He believes he's stronger, faster and smarter than he has ever been inside the cage, with the credit going to the training he receives at Phase IV Athletics with Robert Forster. Warren's training is all science based, and tailored specifically for his needs, focused more on recovery so he can be at his best on fight night.
Warren was able to stamp his claim to top contender status by defeating Sirwan Kakai in September. In his first fight since the injury, Warren used his trademark wrestling and intensity to dictate where the fight took place. Warren landed a pair of strong knees to the face of Kakai, which led to a guillotine choke in the third round. It was a bloody and bruising fight for the former champion, something that he looks forward to imposing on Dantas.
"I'd like to test who he is mentally," said Warren. "It's a scary feeling when you have a man across from you in the cage that will never die."