Following a controversial decision loss to Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren in a non-title fight this past Saturday, Marcos Galvao has been granted a slot in a future Bellator bantamweight tournament.

The announcement came from Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney via MMAJunkie earlier this week.

Galvao fought Warren in a 137-pound catchweight bout Saturday night at Bellator 41. Warren was awarded a unanimous decision that was controversial because all judges awarded Warren the first round, where Warren was taken down three times, mounted twice, and Galvao nearly doubled Warren’s strikes landed.

While Rebney disagreed with the scoring and the outcome of the fight, Rebney stressed that Bellator has no control over scoring:

“The commissions and judges that oversee our events are appointed by the state or by the tribal nation that we work with,we don’t control them. Sometimes they do an amazing job, and sometimes they don’t. But they’re human beings, and our sport remains comparatively new when you compare it to boxing and other combat sports.”

Rebney said that this problem is across all MMA organizations and believed that giving Galvao a slot in a future tournament was the best way to make it up to the Brazilian fighter:

“You’re talking about a kid who used to look for change on the streets of Brazil to feed himself, and now here he is with an opportunity to be on MTV2, make $100,000, and work his way to a title shot, there’s a good aspect to this story as well.”

Rebney went on to say that a possible rematch with Warren is possible for Galvao as well. That possibility seems almost definite if Warren holds true to his intent of entering the bantamweight tournament in an effort to challenge Bellator bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky.

Pictured: Marcos Galvao via Sherdog.com