Bellator champ Marcos Galvao says Joe Warren deserved longer suspension after drug test failure

Marcos Galvao won’t be defending his Bellator title on Oct. 23 after all.

Initially slated to meet Eduardo Dantas in the main event of Bellator 144 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, "Loro" accepted to take on former champion Joe Warren when Dantas was sidelined with a rib injury, but was removed from the card after all.

"They offered me, said (Warren) was going to fight, and all of a sudden, I don’t know what happened, the fight was off," Galvao told MMAFighting.com on Thursday. "I was training for Dantas, but I’m ready for anyone. I don’t know why it was cancelled. I don’t know what happened. I guess (Warren) if coming off a fight and it’s hard to fight twice in one month."

On Friday night, news broke that Warren tested positive for marijuana following his win over L.C. Davis in September, explaining why he wasn’t available for Bellator 144.

"That’s not good for our sport," Galvao told MMAFighting.com on Saturday morning. "Our sport has evolved a lot, we have kids practicing and watching it, the entire world watching it. It damages our sport. They use steroids and weed and damage our sport. That’s not good for us."

Warren received a 90-day suspension after his drug test failure, but Galvao believes he deserved more.

"I think it was too little, but who am I to judge?" he said. "I think you have to be fair to everyone. If one fighter gets four years, another gets two years, one can’t get only three months, but I can’t do anything about it because I’m not the one who makes the calls. It’s up to the commission."

At the end of the day, "Loro" is just disappointed he won’t be able to defend his belt in October.

"I’m upset because I trained hard for this fight, I was focused," said Galvao, who was looking to avenge a 2013 knockout loss to Dantas. "It was going to be complete different fight than the first one. I was working hard, well prepared. No one can stop me. I’m the best in this division at Bellator, and I was ready for it. It happens, but we get upset."

With a fight cancelled a week before the event, Galvao plans to take some time off, but is open to putting his title on the line later this year, as suggested by Dantas.

"I’m an employee and I don’t have a choice," he said then asked if he would be down to fighting in December instead of taking more time off. "My manager is dealing with this right now, but at the end of the day I’m an employee."