Scott Coker News

Drake Riggs - November 11, 2021

Kayla Harrison is one of the biggest free agents MMA has had perhaps since Michael Chandler. Unsurprisingly, Bellator President Scott Coker has some interest. Bellator’s featherweight division has proven to be unmatched over the years – simply due to them having the vast majority of competitors worldwide that make it up. Harrison, a lightweight throughout her career with the exception of one bout, will likely be on her way back down to 145-pounds if she so chooses not to stick with the PFL as her fighting home.

Adam D Martin - October 24, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker admits that he was blown away by Fedor Emelianenko’s first-round KO win over Tim Johnson at Bellator 269. Emelianenko took on Johnson in the main event of Saturday’s Bellator 269 event in Russia, and he won the fight in the first round by brutal knockout. Considering Emelianenko is now 45 years old, it was incredible to see how fast his hands still are at this point in his career. In fact, Emelianenko’s boss Coker was so blown away by his performance that he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face following the big knockout.

Adam D Martin - October 17, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker called the Bellator 205lbs Grand Prix winner the best light heavyweight fighter in MMA. On Saturday night at Bellator 268, Vadim Nemkov submitted Julius Anglickas and Corey Anderson knocked out Ryan Bader to advance to the finals of the promotion’s 205lbs Grand Prix. Nemkov is, of course, already the Bellator light heavyweight champion, and he’s defended his belt twice en route to the tournament finals. Anderson, meanwhile, has won all three of his fights in Bellator by knockout and he looks like a completely different fighter since coming over from the UFC. In 2022, Nemkov will meet Anderson in the finals, and according to their boss Coker, the winner will be the world’s top light heavyweight.

Adam D Martin - October 8, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker says that he would “love” to have the Paul brothers, Jake Paul and Logan Paul, competing in Bellator. Coker was a guest on MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour earlier this week, and one of the questions he was asked by host Ariel Helwani was about the Paul brothers. When asked if Bellator has any interest in bringing the brothers aboard the organization, Coker admitted that he is interested in signing them. As far as Coker is concerned, both the Paul brothers are hard workers who are putting in the work and improving. That’s why Coker said he would love to have them come to Bellator should either of them make the move to MMA.

Adam Martin - August 15, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker explained why the promotion’s 145lbs champion AJ McKee is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in MMA right now. McKee recently finished Patricio Pitbull in the main event of Bellator 263 to become the promotion’s new 145lbs champion, as well as the winner of the $1 million dollar grand prize for winning the Bellator World Featherweight Grand Prix. Just 26 years old, McKee is now a perfect 18-0 in MMA. it’s the longest undefeated streak for a fighter in a major MMA promotion, and as far as McKee’s boss Coker goes, it proves that he’s among the best.

Drake Riggs - August 12, 2021

Tim Johnson is the last person the MMA community expected as the next opponent of Fedor Emelianenko in Bellator’s debut in Russia. On Oct. 23 in Moscow, Emelianenko and Johnson will lock horns. The announcement revealed a few weeks back gave fans and the fighters alike time to fantasize about possible matchups with Josh Barnett, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and even Anderson Silva. So what happened?

Adam Martin - August 1, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker challenged UFC president Dana White to a UFC and Bellator cross-promotion fight with AJ McKee. McKee finished Patricio Pitbull in the main event of Bellator 263 on Saturday night to become the promotions new’s 145lbs champion and the winner of the $1 million grand prize. Just 26 years old, McKee is now a perfect 18-0 in MMA. By taking out Pitbull, who is one of the best featherweights in the world, it showed that “The Mercenary” is one of the best at 145lbs regardless of promotion. McKee is so good, in fact, that Coker believes he matches up well against the best featherweights that the UFC has to offer, including current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and past champ Max Holloway.

Cole Shelton - June 7, 2021

Scott Coker is open to having Logan Paul take an MMA fight in Bellator. Paul, the YouTube star turned pro boxer has mentioned he believes he would be better at MMA due to his wrestling background. After he went the distance with Floyd Mayweather on Showtime pay-per-view, he mentioned he would take an MMA fight.

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed that welterweight star Michael Page could be next in line to get a title shot at 170lbs. Page knocked out Derek Anderson in highlight-reel fashion at Bellator 258 this past Friday night, and overall he has won his last five fights in a row, with four of those wins coming by way of knockout. Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima is currently set to fight No. 1 contender Yaroslav Amosov, but Page has been vocal about wanting to fight the winner.

Adam D Martin - May 6, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed that his promotion does not have any interest in signing free agent UFC veteran Diego Sanchez. Sanchez was released by the UFC last week following a disagreement over the release of medical information. UFC president Dana White let him go and he is now a free agent. While Speaking to Mick Heck ahead of Bellator 258, Coker was asked if Bellator has any interest in signing “The Nightmare,” which the organization’s leader said no to.

Harry Kettle - April 5, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker has explained the decision behind Mike Goldberg no longer being part of Bellator broadcasts on Showtime. Mike Goldberg has been one of the most consistent and recognizable voices in all of mixed martial arts across the last few decades and as we look ahead to the future, it’s hard to imagine a world where he’s not on the call for a big promotion.

Cole Shelton - April 2, 2021

Mike Goldberg will no longer be the play-by-play voice of Bellator. With Bellator set to move to Showtime, Scott Coker revealed they decided to undergo some changes and Goldberg will not be with the promotion anymore. The longtime UFC commentator joined Bellator in 2017 after parting ways with the UFC.

Cole Shelton - April 1, 2021

Scott Coker likes the idea of signing Alistair Overeem or Junior dos Santos to fight Fedor Emelianenko. After Emelinaneko beat Rampage Jackson in December of 2019, the plan was to have his farewell tour be in 2020. However, due to the pandemic, the Russian didn’t get a chance to fight, but according to Scott Coker, he says the MMA legend will fight sometime in the next couple of months,

Adam D Martin - February 10, 2021

Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader will not be stripped of his title, according to Bellator president Scott Coker at Tuesday’s presser. The promotion officially announced the eight-man, Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix tournament. In one of the quarterfinal matchups, Bader takes on Lyoto Machida in a rematch. On paper, that’s a fun fight and having Bader included in the tournament is a good thing. However, while he competes to win back his old light heavyweight title in the bracket, Bader is temporarily holding up heavyweight. He’s still the champion and has no plans to give up his belt.

Adam Martin - February 9, 2021

Bellator MMA announced that it will be moving to Showtime, and the promotion revealed multiple fights for its upcoming schedule. Bellator MMA will return to action on Friday nights in April and it will do so on a new network as the promotion will now air exclusively on Showtime, with president Stephen Espinoza confirming the news in a press conference. That’s the same network Bellator president Scott Coker had plenty of success with back in the day when he ran Strikeforce. The hope is that this move takes the MMA organization to the next level. Watch the official announcement below.

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2021

The tail-end of 2020 saw the UFC make some surprising releases from their roster. In turn, that led to Bellator President Scott Coker picking them up. To the surprise of many, several names within the larger weight classes parted ways with the UFC this past year. All of which have since joined their counterpart in Bellator MMA. Most notably these names include perennial top light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson, and former UFC title challengers, Yoel Romero, and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.

Adam D Martin - December 27, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker says that social media support made him sign former UFC star Yoel Romero to a contract with his organization. Coker and Bellator initially passed on signing Romero after the UFC released him earlier this month. Citing a younger roster as the reason for not bringing in Romero into his promotion, Coker said that Bellator wasn’t interested in signing him. However, after Bellator signed former UFC light heavyweight title contender Anthony Johnson a few days later, Coker did an about-face and signed Romero to a contract.

Adam Martin - December 23, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker says he is considering legal action after Ben Askren suggested on social media that Bellator is up for sale. On Tuesday, Askren confirmed BJPenn.com that he will be taking on Jake Paul in a boxing match in early 2021. Coker was later being asked about his thoughts on that fight, and he predicted that Paul will knock Askren out, a comment that led Askren to fire back and take to his social media to suggest that Bellator is up for sale. Check out the comments that Askren made on his Twitter on Wednesday about Bellator potentially being up for sale.