UFC
Rafael Silva says he'd have been ready to fight Champ Eduardo Dantas on May 2, but Bellator had already booked Joe Warren
Apr 6, 2014 - 3:55:18 PM Rafael Silva says he'd have been ready to fight Champ Eduardo Dantas on May 2, but Bellator had already booked Joe Warren

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Rafael Silva earned a shot at Bellator's Bantamweight Championship with wins last year over Rodrigo Lima and Anthony Leone. Unfortunately, injury took him out of his opportunity to fight Champ Eduardo Dantas last month, and Leone took that spot.

Now, he's going to have an even longer delay, as Bellator quickly moved Joe Warren into place to fight the Dantas-Leone winner on May 2.

Silva would have been ready to fight on that card, but instead he'll be waiting for the winner of Dantas vs. Warren.

"They announced that Warren would fight me or Eduardo on May 2, so I wasn't surprised when they said he’s fight for the title before," Silva said in an interview with MMAFighting.com. "It's complicated. I can't do much about it. I'm back to training, but I have to wait a little longer to fight again. It's complicated, but not surprising."

"I'd be ready to fight [Dantas] on May 2, for sure. I got injured in January and couldn't train for five or six weeks, but I'm back to training now and would be 100 percent to fight on May 2. It is what it is."

Silva's not thrilled with the multiple delays he's had between fight bookings for Bellator, but he also doesn't have as much of a problem as fellow tournament winner Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, who has been airing his grievances publicly the last several months.

"It took me a year to fight in Bellator after I signed the first contract," he said. "I don't know why I had to wait for so long, but it wasn't a problem. After I first fought, I kept winning and won the tournament. Now I have to wait again, but it won't be a problem. I'll have to wait for seven or eight months, but it won't be a problem."

Penick's Analysis: It was odd that they announced Warren's title fight prior to Dantas even getting through his title defense, because it meant a really quick turnaround for whomever was the Champion out of the event. Meanwhile, with Silva moving out of that fight, it meant another tournament winner getting passed over. It also means Warren had more time overall to prep for the fight. Regardless, Silva's injury meant they had to make a decision on the next fight anyway, it just probably should have been made once they determined how Dantas was doing after his latest win.