Bellator matchmaker Rich Chou steps down from role after six year run

It’s been a good run for longtime Bellator matchmaker Rich Chou, but now he’s moving on to work with Wimp 2 Warrior.

Revealed on Thursday just ahead of tomorrow night’s big Bellator 257 event, the promotion informed the public of Chou’s coming departure as their matchmaker.

.@BellatorMMA statement on @Rich_Chou: pic.twitter.com/giVo1Z204j

— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) April 16, 2021

“After six years of working as the Vice President of Talent Relations for BELLATOR MMA, our dear friend Rich Chou is taking on a new role outside the sport beginning next week,” The Bellator press release read. “Rich will always be family and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Official matchmaking will continue to be overseen by BELLATOR President Scott Coker and Mike Kogan with Chou remaining on board as a consultant to BELLATOR.”

Chou has been an impactful player within the MMA world for several years now. His resume includes positions with Strikeforce, EliteXC, and Rumble on the Rock.

For Chou’s next venture, he’ll look to grow the realm of possibilities for the famous Wimp 2 Warrior program.

Chou is one of the most respected people in MMA. You’ll never hear someone talk badly about him.

Per a release, here’s what he’ll be doing for Wimp 2 Warrior. pic.twitter.com/5b3kw44vZ9

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 16, 2021

“In running the day-to-day business of the North American operation, Chou will be focused on rapidly expand W2W’s presence across the U.S. and Canada,” Information via Ariel Helwani stated. “Working in concert with Kavanagh and Langton, Chou will accelerate the growth of W2W’s licensee gyms through high profile partnerships with brand name MMA academies and gyms, creating the staging grounds for an immersive 100 class, 20 week fight camp that takes participants on a transformative mind, body and soul experience through the world of martial arts.

“Chou will be armed with a significant budget to create co-branded marketing strategies for existing partnerships geared towards increasing gym census throughout their respective territories, as well as aggressively increase overall awareness of the program to attract new partners in untapped markets and regions.

“This includes:

• Incentives and subsidies for gyms that join the program.
• Sponsorship/marketing opportunities for the program and participating gym partners.
• Brand ambassadorships with MMA fighters and well-known personalities to help bridge the message directly to prospective participants.”

Bellator 257 is headlined by a light heavyweight title rematch pitting champion Vadim Nemkov against Phil Davis. The bout will decide who advances to the next round of the light heavyweight Grand Prix – as will the co-main event between Corey Anderson and Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.