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Perhaps the most fan/fighter friendly MMA promoter ever, the former head of Strikeforce is now in charge of Bellator. Scott Coker was spoke to BloodyElbow on Monday and here are some of his plans for Bellator.
Bellator's 11th season kicks off a week from Friday on Spike TV.
-By 18 months to 24 months from now, everything will be turned over and all the plans in place
-The tournament format is dead and buried
-Moving away from the weekly show & seasonal format. It led to a lot of burnout for all the production people and staff having to be on the road for 10 weeks twice a year.
-In 2015, they will run 16 shows. 12 monthly cards and then 4 quarterly bigger cards "arena shows, stacked cards, bigger venue, bigger production, bigger feel."
-There's a big emphasis on recruiting new talent.
-Plus, much of the old Strikeforce crew is back. Rich Chou is the booker and they have 5 scouts focusing on specific martial arts (wrestling, judo, boxing, karate among them).
-They are very much open to co-promoting with other groups from around the globe. They have either spoken with or will speak with One FC (Asia), KSW (Poland), BAMMA (England).
-They are also looking to work again with Jesse Finney (trainer out of St. Louis) and Duke Rufus (Milwaukee) to give them the heads up on local talent (such as when Strikeforce discovered Tyron Woodley thanks to Finney) when they run shows in those markets.
-They want to establish shows on both sides of the country, looking at Northern & Southern California, Mohegan Sun (CT) and the IZOD Center (NJ)
-In talking about the upcoming MMA return of TNA champion Bobby Lashley, he says they will do "fun fights" from time to time
Specific items being considered, or at least are on their minds:
-4 person one-night tournament
-MMA/kickboxing mixed shows a la Japan's Dynamite!! (Spike airs Glory Kickboxing)
-"If we can do it, I think we'll do it" referencing using old Japanese MMA rules (in rings, fighters wearing the gear of their discipline so wrestling shoes or gis)
-They've apparently already begun to change up new contracts so they are less restrictive
-Coker confirmed they have already changed the surface of their cage to the old Strikeforce mat. Apparently, the mat used by Bellator previously was criticized for being too slippery (King Mo was not happy with it).
Bellator's 11th season kicks off a week from Friday on Spike TV.
-By 18 months to 24 months from now, everything will be turned over and all the plans in place
-The tournament format is dead and buried
-Moving away from the weekly show & seasonal format. It led to a lot of burnout for all the production people and staff having to be on the road for 10 weeks twice a year.
-In 2015, they will run 16 shows. 12 monthly cards and then 4 quarterly bigger cards "arena shows, stacked cards, bigger venue, bigger production, bigger feel."
-There's a big emphasis on recruiting new talent.
-Plus, much of the old Strikeforce crew is back. Rich Chou is the booker and they have 5 scouts focusing on specific martial arts (wrestling, judo, boxing, karate among them).
-They are very much open to co-promoting with other groups from around the globe. They have either spoken with or will speak with One FC (Asia), KSW (Poland), BAMMA (England).
-They are also looking to work again with Jesse Finney (trainer out of St. Louis) and Duke Rufus (Milwaukee) to give them the heads up on local talent (such as when Strikeforce discovered Tyron Woodley thanks to Finney) when they run shows in those markets.
-They want to establish shows on both sides of the country, looking at Northern & Southern California, Mohegan Sun (CT) and the IZOD Center (NJ)
-In talking about the upcoming MMA return of TNA champion Bobby Lashley, he says they will do "fun fights" from time to time
Specific items being considered, or at least are on their minds:
-4 person one-night tournament
-MMA/kickboxing mixed shows a la Japan's Dynamite!! (Spike airs Glory Kickboxing)
-"If we can do it, I think we'll do it" referencing using old Japanese MMA rules (in rings, fighters wearing the gear of their discipline so wrestling shoes or gis)
-They've apparently already begun to change up new contracts so they are less restrictive
-Coker confirmed they have already changed the surface of their cage to the old Strikeforce mat. Apparently, the mat used by Bellator previously was criticized for being too slippery (King Mo was not happy with it).
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