Scott Coker News

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2020

Bellator President Scott Coker has now issued a statement on the last-minute cancelation of the Bellator 241 card, which was scheduled to go down in Connecticut later tonight. Coker address this last-minute shake-up, which is of course due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, on Twitter on Friday afternoon.

Adam D Martin - December 22, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker says the promotion is considering a women’s flyweight Grand Prix tournament including its star champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. Macfarlane defended her title once again with a unanimous decision win over Kate Jackson in the main event of Bellator Hawaii. Coker was asked by the media during the post-event scrum who is next for Macfarlane to fight, and his answer was very interesting.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2019

Earlier this week, news surfaced that former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald had parted ways with the promotion and signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL). Shortly thereafter, Bellator President Scott Coker took to Twitter with a classy message to his former fighter. See it below:

Adam D Martin - September 29, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker was asked what he thought about the Bellator featherweight world grand prix quarterfinals matchups, and he said that while he liked the matchups, he was hoping at least one of them was different. The fighters drew numbers and picked their matchups, with champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire having the final say during the selection show at Saturday night’s Bellator 228 event. The champ could have picked anyone he wanted to fight, including top prospect AJ McKee or his rival Darrion Caldwell. Instead, he chose little known Pedro Carvalho, a decision which raised eyebrows by fans who wanted the champ to take on a bigger name.

Natasha Hooper - September 17, 2019

Bellator President Scott Coker isn’t impressed with the way the UFC handled the career of Cris Cyborg. Cyborg, the former Strikeforce, Invicta and UFC featherweight champion, joined Bellator MMA earlier this month. Prior to her move to Bellator, Cris Cyborg competed in the UFC, and got off to a good start with stoppage wins over Leslie Smith, Lina Lansberg and Tonya Evinger, the latter of whom she defeated to win the vacant featherweight title.

Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019

Former Strikeforce, Invicta and UFC champ Cris Cyborg is now a Bellator MMA fighter. The Brazilian legend signed with the Scott Coker helmed promotion this week. Cyborg and Coker have a longstanding professional relationship, as Coker was the president of Cyborg’s former home in Strikeforce. As the pair begin the next chapter of their professional relationship, Coker is vowing to handle Cyborg’s career properly — which he believes the UFC failed to do.

Tom Taylor - August 23, 2019

After a lengthy career in the UFC, Cat Zingano is now a free agent. The former title challenger parted ways with the Las Vegas based promotion earlier this month. From the sounds of it, she could soon have a new home in Bellator MMA.

Natasha Hooper - August 23, 2019

The president of Bellator, Scott Coker, is making his loyalty to Cyborg known, as he claims she is the female GOAT. The former UFC featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg, is currently a free agent after being released from her UFC contract. Her last fight was a win against formerly undefeated fighter Felicia Spencer (7-1) at UFC 240. Her contract release signalled rising tensions between her and Dana White.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2019

When Stipe Miocic stopped Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 241, he not only reclaimed the UFC heavyweight title, but also his reputation as the top heavyweight in mixed martial arts. At least, that’s the widespread opinion. Not everybody is convinced.

Natasha Hooper - August 2, 2019

Bellator MMA plans to develop new markets across the pond and believe Conor McGregor’s trainer, John Kavanagh will be instrumental in achieving this. The company’s CEO,Scott Coker joined the Viacom-owned business in 2014 and has been pushing hard to develop the brand. Part of his plan has been to capitalize in areas where he believes the UFC is flagging. Bellator wants to cultivate international talent and emerging markets that are currently neglected. Coker intends on investing in the MMA market in UK and Ireland as he believes this is a “business opportunity that UFC is not taking advantage of.”

Adam D Martin - July 28, 2019

Although UFC president Dana White was not complimentary towards Cris Cyborg for her victory over Felicia Spencer on Saturday night at UFC 240, Bellator president Scott Coker had nothing but positive things to say about her performance. The former bossman of Strikeforce, where Cyborg starred from 2009 to 2011, sent out a congratulatory tweet on Saturday night to his friend for her unanimous decision win over Spencer.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 18, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker appears to be taking things slow with Aaron Pico. While Pico has been hailed as one of the greatest prospects in MMA, he was thrown to the wolves rather quickly. At the age of 22, Pico has a record of 4-3 and he’s been stopped in all of his losses. In his last two outings, Pico was brutally knocked out by Henry Corrales and Adam Borics.

Tom Taylor - June 13, 2019

Under the leadership of Scott Coker, Bellator MMA has co-promoted with a number of other promotions, most notably Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation, but also with England’s BAMMA and Italy’s Oktagon. In fact, RIZIN bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi will take to the Bellator cage to battle Bellator bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell at Bellator 222 on Friday Night in New York City — the latest evidence of Coker’s willingness to work with other organizations.

Tom Taylor - June 13, 2019

Former UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg recently stated that she plans to test her value as a free agent once her current UFC contract expires. That contract will conclude after her featherweight showdown with Felicia Spencer a UFC 240 in Edmonton in July. If Cyborg does indeed become a free agent, it sounds like she can expect a meeting with Bellator boss Scott Coker. “Listen, if you are a free agent, give us a call. This is a Viacom-backed company and we will take care of the fighters that move the needle for us,” Coker explained during a recent media scrum (transcript via MMA Mania). “So, if she is free one day, please give us a call.”

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

She’s back. After 21 months out of action, ‘The Peacemaker’ Leslie Smith will be returning to action as she has signed with Bellator MMA.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

Without a doubt, Russia’s ‘Last Emperor,’ Fedor Emelianenko is one of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever grace the face of the Earth. But despite his incredible success throughout his career and late resurgence through the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix, it all ended abruptly in January. At Bellator 214, the vacant title was on the line in the tournament’s finals. Standing in Emelianenko’s way on his path to becoming a champion for the first time in 10 years was the current light heavyweight champion of Bellator, Ryan Bader. In the end, 35 seconds was all it took for Bader to sleep the icon with a stiff left hand followed by some on the ground.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2019

Over the last year, Bellator MMA has had Grand Prix fever, promoting action-packed tournaments in its heavyweight and welterweight divisions. According to Bellator president Scott Coker, this exciting trend is likely to continue. In fact, he says Bellator is likely to start hosting one Grand Prix a year.

Drake Riggs - February 1, 2019

The partnership between RIZIN and Bellator continues to be a fruitful one as RIZIN 15 will provide us with yet another cross-promotional title bout. The two promotions have already had fighters fight between each other in the past, but it wasn’t until RIZIN 14 when things got very interesting.