Scott Coker News

Josh Evanoff - August 11, 2023

Bellator president Scott Coker wants fans to know that they’ll be around for a while after October. Earlier this week, the company announced several fights for their historic Bellator 300 event. Headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Ryan Bader and Linton Vassell, three other championship bouts are slated for the event. Champions Cris Cyborg, Usman Nurmagomedov, and Liz Carmouche are slated for the event. They will face challengers Cat Zingano, Brent Primus, and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, respectively.

Josh Evanoff - June 19, 2023

Scott Coker crowned Vadim Nemkov as the best light-heavyweight on the planet after his win over Yoel Romero. The Russian made his return to the cage on Friday night in the main event of Bellator 297. There, he faced the ‘Soldier of God’, who entered the contest riding a two-fight winning streak. However, Yoel Romero’s recent success ended over the weekend.

Cole Shelton - June 15, 2023

Scott Coker has opened up on the rumor that the PFL is buying Bellator. It was recently reported that Bellator is up for sale and PFL was in talks to buy them. It was unknown if they would merge into one promotion, but UFC president Dana White was shocked PFL was trying to buy Bellator.

Zain Bando - June 14, 2023

Bellator president Scott Coker has made his stance clear – his fighters are the cream of the crop. Ahead of Bellator 297 Friday night, which is headlined by two marquee title fights in Vadim Nemkov vs. Yoel Romero at light heavyweight and Sergio Pettis vs. Patricio Pitbull at bantamweight, Coker was adamant his three champions could challenge a whos-who, including the best the UFC has to offer. “We have as good or better fighters than other leagues, including the UFC,” Coker said. “And I think that everybody knows that now.”

Zain Bando - May 11, 2023

Bellator will begin a new era of its broadcasting history Friday, as the promotion announced a new change for Canadian MMA viewers. According to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, Bellator events will move from exclusive broadcasts on YouTube to a semi-traditional pay-per-view model, beginning with Bellator 296 in Paris, France.

Fernando Quiles - March 12, 2023

Goiti Yamauchi suffered a nasty knee injury at the conclusion of his Bellator 292 scrap with Michael Page. Yamauchi and Page shared the cage inside the SAP Center in San Jose, California. This one only last 26 seconds as Page landed a leg kick that totaled Yamauchi’s knee for the TKO finish. It was not a pretty sight, and it was quite clear that Yamauchi suffered an injury that will keep him out of action for a while.

Fernando Quiles - February 26, 2023

Bellator President Scott Coker believes that a slew of champions under his banner are better than the UFC’s titleholders. Coker and UFC President Dana White aren’t exactly bitter enemies, but the two have thrown verbal jabs at one another. In a 2018 lawsuit deposition, White said every promotion Coker touches has failed.

Harry Kettle - February 6, 2023

Bellator president Scott Coker has named the fighters he would have liked to see Fedor Emelianenko battle prior to his retirement. Last Saturday night, Fedor Emelianenko finally retired from mixed martial arts at the age of 46. ‘The Last Emperor’ fell to Ryan Bader, losing via first round TKO in their Bellator heavyweight title rematch.

Josh Evanoff - January 11, 2023

Bellator president Scott Coker was surprised to see Dillon Danis pull out of his boxing match with KSI. ‘El Jefe’ is an interesting figure in the combat sports community. A former training partner of Conor McGregor and Jiu-Jitsu coach, Danis signed with Bellator in 2017 to begin his MMA career. The subsequent year, he defeated Kyle Walker by first-round submission.

Josh Evanoff - January 11, 2023

Bellator president Scott Coker has revealed some big plans for this year. The Showtime-based promotion is prone to doing some ideas that are a bit outside the box. Recently, the promotion traveled to Japan to send five of their best fighters against five of RIZIN’s best. Bellator wound up sweeping the matchups, with names like A.J. McKee and Patricio Pitbull picking up big wins.

Susan Cox - January 2, 2023

Scott Coker is reacting after his Bellator fighters went a perfect 5-0 against Rizin on New Years Eve. Coker, 60, the current president of Bellator can’t hide the pride he has in his promotion closing out 2022 with a clean sweep this past Saturday, December 31st.

Josh Evanoff - December 13, 2022

Bellator president Scott Coker has given his thoughts on Dillon Danis’s boxing match against KSI. ‘El Jefe’ has been out of the cage since a submission victory over Max Humphrey in June 2019. That win was just the second in Danis’s career in MMA, as he debuted the prior year with a toe-hold submission win victory over Kyle Walker.

Zain Bando - November 18, 2022

Scott Coker took it slow when COVID-19 took over the world, as he held his Bellator events at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut without fans. Unlike the UFC, who forged ahead earlier than any other MMA promotion or major sports league, Bellator remained complacent that the right time would eventually come. And, sure enough, it did. Over the last eight months or so, Bellator has returned to the likes of Ireland, San Jose, Arizona, Italy and many others locations. One of those locations in the ladder category is Chicago, Ill., as Bellator 288 plays host to two title fights at the top of the bill, including light heavyweight title challenger Corey “Overtime” Anderson, as he’ll rematch Vadim Nemkov in the finals of the long-awaited conclusion of the Grand Prix.

Harry Kettle - October 11, 2022

Bellator president Scott Coker has explained what it would take for the promotion to add a 165lbs division. For the longest time now, a lot of fans, fighters and pundit have been discussing the possibility of a 165-pound division being added across mixed martial arts. Alongside this being implemented, it would also probably shift the welterweight limit from 170 up to 175, largely to maintain the 10-pound gap between so many of the weight classes.

Josh Evanoff - October 4, 2022

Bellator president Scott Coker has revealed who Fedor Emelianenko could fight next. ‘The Last Emperor’ has been out of action since his knockout victory over Tim Johnson in October 2021. The bout moved Emelianenko to a two-fight winning streak, as he had previously finished Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in Japan in December 2019.

Josh Evanoff - September 28, 2022

Scott Coker has announced that Bellator has some big plans for 2023. Last weekend, Bellator lightweight stars Benson Henderson and Peter Queally faced off in Dublin. The former UFC champion wound up picking up the victory by decision. This weekend, Bellator 286 features former champion A.J. McKee taking on Spike Carlyle.

Fernando Quiles - September 25, 2022

Bellator President Scott Coker has cleared the air on the extent of his “dialogue” with Nate Diaz. Coker recently turned some heads when he told reporters that he was in communication with Diaz. The Stockton native has fought out of his UFC contract and he revealed his plan to fight outside of the promotion for a little while, but he vowed to eventually return.

Cole Shelton - September 22, 2022

Scott Coker is hoping to make Anderson Silva vs. Fedor Emelianenko in Bellator. After Silva fought out his UFC contract and became a free agent, Coker says he tried to sign the Brazilian. He wanted to do a one-off fight against Emelianenko but Silva made it known he wanted to pursue boxing.