Scott Coker News

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2020

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker believes he knows how a rumored boxing match between Ben Askren and Jake Paul will go down. Askren claims that he’s in talks to fight Paul in March. While he previously reigned as the Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder and is a decorated wrestler, he’s never been much of a striker, and is widely expected to be at a disadvantage in a boxing match against the YouTube star turned pro boxer, Paul.

Drake Riggs - December 22, 2020

Going into UFC Vegas 17 this past Saturday, former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis knew that he was heading into free agency. As of Tuesday, “Showtime” took to social media to declare that he will, in fact, be departing from the promotion that he’s spent the last 10 years of his career in. Prepared to test the waters of free agency, many in the MMA community have already begun speculating where he could be headed and who some new matchups could be.

Adam Martin - December 14, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker reacted to the news that former UFC middleweight title contender Yoel Romero has signed with Bellator. On Monday, it was announced that Bellator had signed Romero to its roster, and the Cuban will compete in the promotion’s light heavyweight division. Romero joins Anthony Johnson and Corey Anderson as recent additions to the organization’s 205lbs weight class, which Coker has called the best light heavyweight division on the planet. Bellator has quite a bit of momentum behind the organization right now so it’s no wonder how excited Coker is for the future of his promotion in 2021 and onward.

Adam Martin - December 11, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed that he will not block Dillon Danis from making the move to the boxing ring for a Jake Paul fight. In the wake of Paul’s recent KO win over Nate Robinson on the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. PPV card, there have been plenty of athletes calling out Paul for his next fight. One of those athletes is Danis, the Bellator middleweight. Both Danis and Paul haven’t liked each other for a long time and it’s gotten to a new level of hatred between the two since Paul finished Robinson. It seems like there is a lot of interest on both sides to potentially book Paul vs. Danis in a boxing match in 2021.

Harry Kettle - December 10, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker has laid out his plans in the wake of the announcement that they have signed Anthony Johnson. The world of mixed martial arts was stunned earlier this week by the news that Johnson had parted ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in favor of signing a contract with Bellator.

Adam Martin - December 9, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker explained why Bellator isn’t interested in signing free-agent middleweight fighter Yoel Romero to a contract. The UFC cut Romero last week as part of its 60 roster cuts by the end of 2020. The move to release Romero came as a big surprise considering he had just fought Israel Adesanya in his last fight at UFC 248 for the middleweight belt. But with the UFC in roster-cutting mode, the 43-year-old Romero and his three straight losses were deemed expendable. UFC president Dana White said that the cuts are purely roster-space motivated and have nothing to do with cost-cutting measures due to COVID-19.

Adam Martin - November 26, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker suggested that promotional welterweight champion Douglas Lima could take on Neiman Gracie in his next fight. Lima recently moved up to middleweight in a failed effort to become a two-division champion in Bellator when he lost a unanimous decision to Gegard Mousasi. Lima is expected to move back to 170lbs for his next fight, and fighters such as Michael Page and Lorenz Larkin have been teased as potential opponents. But it looks like Bellator has another fight in mind for Lima following his recent loss to Mousasi.

Adam Martin - November 26, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker says that his featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull would KO the UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski. Coker has said that he believes Pitbull is the best featherweight in MMA right now, and there’s certainly an argument to be made that he is. The Brazilian is riding a six-fight win streak that includes wins over the likes of Michael Chandler, Juan Archuleta, Daniel Weichel, and in his last fight, Pedro Carvalho. Since Pitbull is in Bellator and not in the UFC, most fans and media would likely say that Volkanovski is still the top dog at 145lbs right now. But Pitbull is absolutely right there in the conversation.

Adam Martin - November 18, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker says that Rampage Jackson was released from the promotion and is an unrestricted free agent. Jackson last fought at Bellator & RIZIN: Japan in December 2019 and he suffered a first-round TKO loss to Fedor Emelianenko that night. Now 42 years old, we haven’t heard anything from Jackson all year in regards to fighting again for Bellator. That’s because according to Coker, the final fight on Jackson’s Bellator contract was the Emelianenko fight. With that final bout completed, Jackson’s contract with Bellator concluded and the promotion released him. He’s now free to sign anywhere else.

Adam Martin - November 13, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker teased a future Bellator 205lbs tournament, saying “it’s the best light heavyweight division on the planet.” Coker and his organization are in the midst of completing the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix, a tournament that was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The promotion previously put on the Heavyweight Grand Prix that saw Ryan Bader win. In the past, Coker held a heavyweight tournament, a women’s bantamweight, and a middleweight tournament in Strikeforce, so we all know Coker loves a good bracket.

Adam Martin - October 30, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker suggested that a rematch between Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima and Michael Page could be next. Lima lost a unanimous decision to Gegard Mousasi in the main event of Thursday’s Bellator 250 event in a failed bid to become a two-division champion. Despite the loss to Mousasi, Lima remains the promotion’s welterweight champion. As such, he will be returning to his regular weight class for his next fight. Just who that is going to be against remains the question.

Adam D Martin - October 30, 2020

Middleweight Gegard Mousasi could move up to light heavyweight next in order to become a double champion says Bellator president Scott Coker. Mousasi bested Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima via unanimous decision in the main event of Thursday night’s Bellator 250 card. Mousasi was able to get the better of Lima on the feet and on the mat as he won the decision and earned the vacant Bellator middleweight champion, his second time winning the organization’s title at 185lbs. Mousasi is now 5-1 overall in the Bellator cage and a winner of 10 of his last 11 fights.

Adam Martin - October 15, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker says that heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko is “50/50” on whether he wants a rematch with Fabricio Werdum. It’s been over 10 years since Werdum pulled off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when he finished Emelianenko by submission in a Strikeforce fight in June 2010. Werdum would parlay that win over Emelianenko into a UFC contract, where he eventually became the promotion’s champion. As for Emelianenko, he was very up-and-down during the 2010s after being the fighter of the decade in the 2000s. In recent years, Emelianenko has found a home in Bellator, whose promoter Scott Coker is also close friends with Werdum.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2020

Over the weekend, Scott Coker promoted the first major mixed martial arts event in France with the stacked Bellator 248 card. It took many years for France to formally legalize MMA, but once the country opened that door, Coker and Bellator sprung into action, laying out plans for the first major MMA event in the country.

Tom Taylor - October 7, 2020

Bellator President Scott Coker has shared his first reaction to Michael Chandler, the promotion’s former lightweight champion, signing with the UFC. Chandler is arguably the biggest star in Bellator history. Last month, however, the former champ parted ways with the promotion, and signed on the dotted line with the UFC.

Adam Martin - September 14, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed he has reached out to the management of Brock Lesnar, saying it would be a “great opportunity.” Reports recently came out saying that Lesnar, the former UFC heavyweight champion, is a free agent after his contract with the WWE expired and he could be considering offers to return to MMA. UFC president Dana White has already said he’s interested in a Lesnar vs. Jon Jones fight, and Coker has said he is interested in a Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko fight, so it will be interesting to see where Lesnar ends up next should he indeed make a comeback.

Tom Taylor - August 25, 2020

Bellator President Scott Coker is extremely impressed by the promotion’s red-hot flyweight prospect Valerie Loureda. Loureda, a Taekwondo specialist who is now 3-0 as a mixed martial artist under the Bellator banner, was the subject of some high praise from the promotion’s president at the Bellator 244 post-fight press conference.

Christopher Taylor - August 22, 2020

Dana White responded to Scott Coker’s claim that Bellator possesses the best light heavyweight division in MMA during tonight’s UFC post-fight press conference. Following the news that Jon Jones was vacating his UFC light heavyweight title in order to make a run at heavyweight, the Bellator boss in Coker suggested that his promotion now had the best light heavyweight roster in MMA.