Tonight is the Semifinal Round of the Featherweight tournament of Bellator Fighting Championship fourth season. Headlining Bellator 41 is current Featherweight champion Joe Warren (6-1) as he faces off against BJJ ace Marcos “Loro” Galvao (9-3-1) in a non-title Catchweight bout at 137lbs. What’s even more interesting than Warren headlining a card and not defending his title is his announcement of returning to amateur wrestling. 

In an interview with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, Warren states that he is going to return to his Greco-Roman roots and make a run at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. After his non-title bout with Galvao, Warren will go on to defend his title against the winner of the Featherweight Tournament and then make his wrestling return shortly after. Having won three gold medals in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, his journey was cut short after failing a drug test and being handed a 2-year suspension. Now, he has set his sights on returning to wrestling, making the Olympic team and winning a Gold medal for the United States.

Not only does he want to win Olympic gold, he also wants more Bellator gold. In preparation for the Olympics, he wants to enter the Bellator Bantamweight tournament as that is his natural fighting and wrestling weight class. You may be thinking “how can one man focus on all these tasks and not get too overwhelmed?” Warren plans on taking it one step at a time.

First, following his bout with Galvao, Warren will focus on his title defense. Then he will shift gears and get back into the wrestling mindset and attack that at full speed. Next he will jump back into MMA and get ready for the Bantamweight tournament. Finally, he will move back into wrestling and compete in the U.S. Open at the end of the year, which he claims will help him determine if he can hang at the Olympic level or if she should just keep his focus on MMA.

At the start of 2012, Warren will know for sure whether he is going to focus solely on his Olympic goals or if he should stick with his MMA career. Warren said he is even open to taking a shot at professional wrestling, having spent some time working with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to help promote Bellator last month. He looks at it as another way for him to earn championship gold.

Be sure to tune into Bellator 41 at 6PM ET/9PM PT on MTV2 to watch Joe Warren complete the first step towards his future goals.