The news that Scott Coker was taking over Bellator from Bjorn Rebney seems to have been met with mostly positive reactions by the fans. Amongst fighters and their managers the response seems to be even more enthusiastic as evidence by the public statements from the likes of Muhammed Lawal, Phil Baroni, Mike Kogan,Tito Ortiz, Frank Shamrock, and Randy Couture. Taking my own informal poll, I asked roughly two dozen fighters, managers, and trainers, inside and outside of Bellator, their thoughts on Coker taking the position of President, and with the exception of one fighter (who did not know who Scott Coker was, let alone that he had taken over Bellator) the responses ranged from positive to downright ecstatic.
This high approval comes before he has had a chance to implement much of anything he has planned for the promotion. And what is it that he has planned? That was the subject of our discussion Monday evening.
My questions are in bold and Scott's answer's are in italics.
First thing I have to ask is what made you decide to come back? When we last spoke you said you were going to take some time off and in were in no rush to return to promoting. And now a few months later you're running Bellator. What changed?
As you know I was "retired" as it were. The minute my contract with the UFC ended I started getting a lot phone calls but I really was in no rush. But then I met Kevin Kay and I said "Wow, this is a really nice guy." We clicked and I got his vision of where he wanted to go and it fell in the same line where I wanted to go. And then I met some of the Viacom guys and said, "these guys are really committed". Went to New York, saw just how committed they were. Not just from the SPIKE TV level but from the Viacom Corporation as well. They want this to be successful and they want to take it to another level.
We did a great job with Strikeforce promoting fights. We did some big venues. We did some amazing gates and some big attendance. I think we're very good at that side of the business and Viacom and SPIKE TV know the television side. So when I looked at all the support and toys, if you want to call it that, that Viacom has and all the support that SPIKE can give, I started thinking that If I didn't take this opportunity I might end up regretting it for a long time.
So SPIKE is fully committed to Bellator. There are always rumors floating around that they might give up on them.
They are all in buddy. All in. And then some. That was something we had a really big conversation about and what helped convince me to come over.
Coming in what were the things you felt you had to change? Did you have a list of priorities?
The first thing we had to change was the tournament format. Which we did. The second thing is we have to go and recruit the top talent and cultivate the talent we have here now. And the third thing was the staff running 10 shows in a row. Talk about a burnout. We had to reprogram it. "Look this is going to become a once a month show and we are going to have time to promote it and we are really going to have time to do it right." This is a much different mindset than doing it every week. Because right now these guys were on the road for like 10 weeks straight. It's like crazy.
Sounds like roadies for a rock band,
Yeah, it's like a concert tour.
So what will the schedule be like for Bellator now if you're not doing to ten episode seasons?
Here is the thought. Right now they are doing like ten weeks in a row, which you can't promote a fight every week doing that. It's impossible. If you want to be Friday Night Fights sure. OK that's one thing. But I don't want to be Friday Night Fights. I want to be fights that matter, are relevant and people want to see. So we're going to take a step back and we're going to do 16 fights next year. We'll do 12 good-sized shows and then we do four tent pole shows. Arena shows. Stacked cards, bigger venue, bigger production, bigger feel. So we'll have a total of 16 fights next year.
Of all those three things, what do you foresee taking up most your time?
We'll spend the most time building the next group of talent and being ready to acquire talent when it becomes available.
You had a group of guys with you in Strikeforce that you really credited with having an eye for talent. Are you bringing them back?
The band has been put back together. We have Rich Chou as matchmaker and we have five different scouts in different types of fighting. We have someone watching wrestling for us. Someone watching Judo, someone watching boxing, someone is watching traditional karate. And we tell them when you find the next big thing give us a call.
It's more than talent right you are looking for though right? We've talked in the past about how the Cung Les, Tim Kennedys, and Jacares have something more than just being good.
Exactly. We are looking to find the next set of guys that we helped build over in Strikeforce. The Josh Thomsons, the Gilbert Melendezes, the Daniel Cormiers, the Luke Rockholds, the Tyron Woodleys, the Gina Caranos, the Ronda Rouseys - Ronda fought for Strikeforce after the buyout but we'd been talking with her manager, Darin, before. If you look at the common denominator, all those fighters were marketable above and beyond being talented.
But in addition to building up stars we are going to sign some. So you build some and you buy some.
How much free agent talent can you acquire? Not many big names seem to come up as free agents these days.
I think we'll see more. My feeling is you'll see more people come up because they are going to want both companies to bid on their services.
Have you thought about changing the name since not many people seem to know what "Bellator" means?
How about "Spikeforce"?
You read my mind.
There's been some dialogue about if they are going to rebrand or not. But I think that hasn't been decided and as far as I know it's going to be Bellator. They've done this 6 or 7 years and build up a following and people seem to be OK with it.
You've talked in the past you're open to co-promoting. Is there a chance we can see you working with Glory or any other MMA promotions?
Yes. I think the door is open for everything. We've already been in touch with One FC. We have been talking to Matt Hume. We are going to talk to KSW. We are going to talk to Bamma. Co-promotion is also working with Jesse Finney or Duke Rufus or other local promotions. They know where all the talent is in their local market.
We found Tyron Woodley when we did a fight in St. Louis. He was fighting on the undercard. We never would have discovered him if we didn't do a show there with Jesse. These guys are out there building the next guys and we get a chance to take a look at them and build a relationship and it's a win for everyone.
With Strikeforce, the Bay area was your hometown region. Bellator though has been mostly an East Coast company and is now based in Southern California. Are you going to try to bring them back to the Bay or focus on the whole United States?
We'll promote in the bay area for sure. The Orange County area for sure as well. And then somewhere in the East Coast. Whether it's the Mohegan Sun or the IZOD center or something that's in New Jersey. But we definitely want an East Coast presence and a West Coast presence. I think those are the three major cities we'll focus on. And then we'll go to other places that make sense. For example: we always had a great relationship with Jesse Finney so we might also look at St. Louis.
What should fans expect when Bellator comes to town?
One of the things you see in Bellator that we did in Strikeforce is bigger fights, bigger arenas, and bigger productions. And we are going to do some interesting fan fights.
Our next show is a good example. If you look at September 5th with Curran fighting Pitbull in a rematch, hardcore fans are going to love that fight. Anyone who loves fighting is going to love that fight. Than you got King Mo, who is a great talent and entertainer. And you got Cheick Kongo who's a name and a solid fighter. Than you got Bobby Lashley who's making his comeback, who's making his Bellator debut and is the TNA champion.
We are also going to do fun fights from time to time.
Fun fights such as Paul Daley versus Melvin Manhoef?
That's a fight I've been waiting to put together. So we are going to do our best. So I want to see how Paul does on the Bamma show on the 12th of September and we have Melvin fighting here that same month. So lets let them get through those fights and if they get through them unscathed lets put them together.
We talked before about some of the things we thought would be fun to see in MMA again, any chance we'll see those things in Bellator?
Right now my focus is getting the ship steered in the right direction, but in 18 months you will probably see all the stuff we talked about.
Really? How about a four-man or woman one-night tournament?
Yes. That's definitely an option.
How about a Dynamite!! type show, where you have both MMA and kickboxing and maybe some other combat sports on the same card?
Yes. Everything is open.
How about having men in armor like M-1 did recently?
I don't know about that one.
How about a show using the old JMMA rules? In a ring where you can fight in a gi or wearing wrestling shoes?
That has some commission issues. We'd have to get a commission that would approve that. But I loved the old Japan shows where they come out in their traditional outfits and represent their style. If we can do it I think we'll do it.
Regarding Eddie Alvarez, do you have anything to tell us about his situation? There's some rumors you were going to release him. (Note this interview was done Monday evening before the announcement of Alvarez's release.)
I think within a week we'll have something to announce. I really can't comment on it because lawyers are involved and I tell you, if you want to get nothing done put two lawyers in a room.
Bellator received a lot of criticism in the past from fighters and managers regarding their contracts but I've been hearing from some of them that since you took over there have been some changes. Is this true?
We're evaluating [their contracts] on a case-by-case basis. Some fighters have fought thru the tournament and they've are being compensated according to what the agreement is so we'll probably leave them alone. If they haven't fought in a tournament and they've been promised a tournament we'll probably revisit those.
What about the provisions that so many fighters and managers were unhappy with? The multiple extensions, etc.?
I don't know all the details, because each agreement is different but I will tell you this that our agreements that we are signing with our athletes today look a lot different than what those agreements in the past looked like.
Did you see King Mo complaining about the canvas in Bellator and asking that you replace it with the one that was used in Strikeforce?
Well how about this for a story: our canvas has been changed. We'll be using our old Strikeforce canvas that has a no slick product on it so they won't be slipping when they want to kick or go for a takedown.
I now have a lede. Have you told Lawal yet?
No but I'll call him and let him know.
Since Bellator hired you I've been asking every fighter, manager, and trainer I spoken to what they thought of you taking over the promotion, and almost to a person they were not only happy but some were ecstatic. If you were a politician your approval rating would be through the roof right now. So how does that make you feel and do you worry that perhaps some people might have unrealistic expectations about what you can accomplish?
I tell you it's flattering, but now I have to work my ass off to live up to it, so there's a catch to it.
As for expectation I think people need to be patient. A couple things are important to keep in mind. One is that for an industry to be healthy it needs more than one player to be successful. And I think that's been proven over the years with different products, not just with sporting products but other products as well. I would say to the MMA fans and people in the business, I would tell them be patient, because it's going to take as I said 18 months to 2 years.
So 18 months to 2 years from now what are we going to see?
I think we are going to be putting on some big fights. I think we're going have some events at major venues around the country. We are going to go after some of the best fighters in the world. We are going to build some of the best fighters in the world. And we're going to put it all together and put on some great shows.