Former Bellator veteran Joe Taimanglo in court again for illegal gun and drug possession case

Joe Taimanglo has been warned by the court to stay clean after testing positive for the use of illicit drugs.

According to The Guam Daily Post, Taimanglo appeared before Judge Alberto Tolentino of the Superior Court of Guam on Tuesday, May 10. At the hearing, Adult Probation Services informed the court that Taimanglo's drug test came back positive for the use of controlled substances. The judge warned him that although he is released, he will need to stay clean or else he will be sent back to jail.

Taimanglo is now set to appear in court again on June 24 to proceed with his illegal gun and drug possession case.

In October 2020, 'Baby Joe' was arrested during a traffic stop after authorities found the license tags on his scooter to be expired. He and the vehicle were searched, at which officials came across a Ruger P85 pistol with one round in the chamber and three rounds in the magazine. Additionally, a glass pipe with meth residue was seized along with a baggie of methamphetamine found in the scooter seat compartment. Allegedly, Joe Taimanglo told police he picked up the gun after it was dropped by a man who attempted to rob his store. He also allegedly told police that he was holding the drugs from a family member to help stop their addiction.

Below is Taimanglo's 2020 arrest reported by BJ Penn:

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More about Joe Taimanglo 'The Juggernaut'

Prior to his arrest, the 37-year-old Guamanian was a top featherweight and bantamweight contender. During his best run in Bellator, he scored a beautiful knockout against Antonio Duarte and a guillotine choke against former two-division champion Darrion Caldwell. He flaunts 24 wins with just 9 losses and 1 draw in his professional career. A handful of his wins are by knockout, but fifty percent of them are by brutal submission.

Before joining Bellator, he fought mainly in Pacific Xtreme Combat, a fight promotion based in Guam, from 2004 to 2012. Joe Taimanglo ended his career in Bellator with a split-decision win against Joe Warren in 2018. The same year, he fought and lost his final MMA bout in the Russian fight promotion World Fighting Championship Akhmat (WFCA) against Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev.