Bellator's Joe Warren cleared to fight, return date not set

After an undisclosed medical issue prompted his removal from a Bellator event earlier this month, Joe Warren (8-3 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) may now compete in the promotion’s Season 9 featherweight tournament.

The Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation tonight removed the former champ from a national database that tracks medically suspended fighters.

“He’s cleared to fight,” Michael Mazzuli, Mohegan’s director of athletic regulation, told MMAjunkie.com.

A Bellator official said that Warren’s clearance is good news but could not provide a potential date for the fighter’s participation in the tournament. However, additional sources said that a fight with Nick Kirk (10-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA), his previously scheduled opponent in the competition’s opening round, is targeted for Bellator 101 on Sept. 27 in Portland, Ore.

Mazzuli said he cleared Warren after receiving a test that the commission’s neurologist recommended Warren complete once again to ensure he could safely compete. The official said he had no knowledge of any incident that might have prompted Warren’s medical issue.

A report earlier this month citing a source close to the fighter said a gym knockout was the catalyst.

Warren, a coach on Bellator’s Spike TV reality-show “Fight Master,” was scheduled to fight Kirk at Bellator 98, which took place Sept. 7 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., before he was scratched.

The 36-year-old former amateur wrestler was unreachable for comment in the weeks following news of his medical troubles. A call earlier today went unreturned.

Warren most recently fought this past November, when he outpointed Owen Evinger in a non-tourney bout. In his previous two appearances, he was badly knocked out by Alexis Vila and Pat Curran, respectively.

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.