Bellator 27 Results: Joe Warren Lays the Hammer Down on Joe Soto

Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a new Bellator Featherweight Champion as Joe Warren defeated Joe Soto on Thursday night at Bellator 27 in San Antonio, TX.

Commend both men for their efforts tonight in San Antonio, and give them both credit where it's warranted.

Joe Soto was looking to lay the proverbial hammer down on Joe Warren throughout the fight, and Joe Warren was confident that he would walk out the new Featherweight Champion.

Only Warren could anticipate the fight ending the way it did, though—even if it didn't end at the time he wanted it to end.

Again, give credit where it's due to the now former Bellator Featherweight Champion, as he did put up one hell of a first round.

As a matter of fact, he dominated the first round, catching Warren with everything from a left jab to a right uppercut, but Warren just hung on tight, settling somewhat for a first-round loss on the judges' scorecards.

The fight hadn't stopped, though, which wound up being a bad thing for Soto.

Actually, the clowning Soto did at the end to try and make an ass out of Warren might've had something to do with what Warren did in the second.

Early in round two, Warren opened up a lot of eyes by dropping Soto with a right hand. Warren followed up with a few shots, but he let Soto back up.

That's where the end came for The Hammer.

All Warren needed to do was come at Soto with a hard knee and allow the ref to step between them.

The official time of the stoppage was only 33 seconds of the second round, and what a comeback like the one Warren pulled out against Soto.

Of course, Warren suffered his first career loss by submission in DREAM a couple of years ago, so he's no stranger to the old adage of "it's not if you fall, it's if you get back up."

The more experienced Soto went out like a fighting champion and got knocked out, but he did give a dominant first round.

Now, he's going to have to find a way to bounce back from this defeat, but Soto's drive was never a question.

Somehow, someway, I can see Soto coming back from this loss and earning himself another shot at the belt, though it'll be far from an easy task.

Of course, it's not easy to be the champ either, especially when you're seven fights deep into your career with a loss.

The bottom line here is that Joe Warren was and still is an underestimated fighter in MMA.

He was underestimated before he fought Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, he was underestimated when he fought Freire, and he was sure as shoot underestimated against Joe Soto tonight.

And the smart money?

It says that even if you were impressed with Warren tonight, he's going to be an underestimated Bellator Featherweight Champion.

To be frank, though, I don't think it matters to Joe Warren if he's given a chance to win in any fight, whether he wakes up with the belt tomorrow or not.

As a matter of fact, I dare to say I think he likes it when he's not given a shot to win.

It makes it that much sweeter when he shocks us all.