Bellator Fighting Championships featherweight contender Joe Warren (4-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC) has impressed MMA observers in his current run with a controlling style and an unrelenting pace.

But despite a pair of Bellator season two wins over Georgi Karakhanyan and Eric Marriott, the former Greco-Roman wrestling world champion says he's still figuring out the game of mixed martial arts.

Give him a little more time, Warren says, and he'll be nearly unstoppable – especially when he drops down to a more natural weightclass.

"After this tournament is done, hopefully I never fight this weight class again," Warren recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "I'll drop down to [135 pounds]. It's just a more comfortable weight for me.

"These guys are just way bigger. It's been harder for me to take people to the mat and control more. They pop their hips into submission attempts and throw big punches in there."

Warren stormed onto the MMA scene in March 2009 with back-to-back wins over Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and Chase Beebe under the DREAM banner. Warren was eventually submitted by Bibiano Fernandes in the semifinals of DREAM's featherweight grand prix, but the lesson proved valuable.

In Warren's opening-round Bellator fight with Marriott, he found himself in numerous submission attempts but found a way to escape each hold – including a deep triangle choke that appeared destined to end the fight – even if the efforts weren't the most technical affairs.

"I'm not going to tap on any of them," Warren said. "I think the triangle was about the tightest thing I've ever been in. His body was way bigger. He weighed about 170 pounds going into that fight. That's probably the biggest guy I've ever competed against, and he was very skillful on the ground. He transitions real well.

"That triangle, I was out once and woke back up when I hit my shoulder. My corner was yelling, '15 seconds,' so I just held my breath, but it was 45 seconds. They were lying."

Things didn't go exactly perfect against Karakhanyan, either, but the gritty Warren still booked his spot in the finals against Patricio "Pitbull" Freire (14-0 MMA, 2-0 BFC) at Bellator 23 on June 24.

"He caught me with a knee, and with that knee, he split the top of my head open – like eight stitches," Warren said. "That took a little time for that to heal up – probably like six days or something like that. Besides that, I'm alright.

"I got caught in a few armbars that hurt my elbow a little bit, but the last armbar popped it back, so I've been feeling good since then."

Warren hopes to complete his tournament run later this month then stay busy in Japan until a Bellator title fight with current champion Joe Soto can be scheduled for the promotion's season-three run.

"I haven't fought anyone that's not good yet," Warren said. "Hopefully [Freire] can hold up to the standard of fighters that I've been fighting. If not, then he's going to get hurt. Hopefully that's what happens.

"Then I'm going to go over there and just pummel the [expletive] out of those Japanese for three fights. They're going to be scared as [expletive]. I can't wait to go over there."

Bellator. DREAM. Featherweight. Bantamweight. Warren has plenty of options. But as the 33-year-old continues to round out his game, he believes the options of his opponents will quickly become more and more limited.

"I'm just trying to pull a win out every single time," Warren said. "Now I'm hoping some of this technique comes around and makes this fighting a little more fun.

"I'm still getting caught in some stuff, but I'm learning quick, so I'm going to figure this whole thing out."