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Scott Coker\u2019s new MMA promotion may not have an official name yet, but the wheels are turning as the former Strikeforce head prepares to launch his new combat sports promotion in 2027.<\/p>\n
After years of running Bellator under the restrictive constraints of Viacom, Coker has gotten a lot of the old Strikeforce staff back together. Strikeforce did a great job of building stars and putting together big fights, and was the last promotion to be a legit No. 2 to UFC \u2026 before UFC bought them in 2011 and swallowed the promotion whole a year later.<\/p>\n
In a new interview with MMA Island, Coker revealed some details on the launch of his new mixed martial arts organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll see an event in Asia, you\u2019ll see an event in Europe, you\u2019ll see an event in San Jose,\u201d Coker said. \u201cAnd you\u2019ll see an event in one territory that we\u2019re gonna announce soon. And all those will happen in the first quarter [of 2027].\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Coker, we\u2019re just over a month away from the promotion\u2019s big reveal.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn September 14 we\u2019re gonna we\u2019re gonna have a launch event,\u201d he said. So keep your ears open and we\u2019ll have more information for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s two big questions we have for this unnamed league: who will be the broadcast partner, and where will Coker find the talent to fill his roster? The broadcast deal remains a question mark but Coker is hard at work traveling the world scouting out the next generation of stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always believe that there\u2019s so much talent out there,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I was in France last week with [matchmaker] Rich [Chou], we went to these gyms and they have just some killers over there. They have like 20 gyms, fifty, seventy-five fighters each deep. The talent pool is unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coker and his team have a proven track record for finding fighters who became big names and champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always believed in this, even with Strikeforce,\u201d Coker said. \u201cEven though we had Frank [Shamrock] and Cung [Le], seasoned veterans already, I always felt like we gotta build from the ground up. Bob [Cook], go find me the next guy. He brings Daniel Cormier. He brings Ronda Rousey. He brings [Tyron Woodley]. Javier [Mendez] brought Luke Rockhold.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJavier says \u2018You need to go out and get this kid named Gilbert Melendez\u2019 \u2026 So we sign him. Sign Josh Thompson. Same thing we did with Bellator. A.J. McKee was a guy that I found right out of his last amateur fight. Usman Nurmagomedov, Javier said, \u2018You need to go sign this kid. He\u2019s really good.\u2019 So we signed Usman. Bob Cook comes in, Aaron Pico, \u2018You gotta sign this kid. He\u2019s amazing.\u2019 Okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when Bob Cook, Javier, or Rich [Chou] say, \u2018You gotta sign this kid,\u2019 we sign,\u201d Coker concluded. \u201cI don\u2019t even ask. Just give me the pen. We\u2019re gonna sign this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll find out how Coker\u2019s boots on the ground approach to talent scouting does in 2027 when the promotion kicks off. And four events in the first quarter of 2027? The next year is going to be an interesting one for mixed martial arts.<\/p>\n