Patricio Pitbull vs. Max Holloway? Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs. Valentina Shevchenko? Sure, why not.
Former Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, who is now President of Bellator MMA, knows a thing or two about going head-to-head against Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and its outspoken head cheese, Dana White.
In addition, the mixed martial arts (MMA) industry has now been around long enough to see a good portion of today’s top fighters logging miles for both promotions. UFC welterweight Ben Askren is a former Bellator MMA champion.
Current Bellator MMA champion, Ryan Bader, won The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 8.
But Coker has now reached a point where he feels confident that his roster of “killers’ would be competitive — and perhaps even victorious — against the best White and Co. has to offer, should such a scenario ever come to pass.
“Listen, it’s not their business model to do that, but if they want to get it on, let’s do it,” Coker said (via MMA Junkie). “We would not be opposed to that. I mean, c’mon. We got some killers in this league. If they want to get it on, let’s do it.”
Coker has been able to put together some interesting match ups in the past, thanks to his willingness to co-promote with other MMA organizations, like EliteXC, DREAM, and M-1 Global, just to name a few.
Outside of the Floyd Mayweather fight, UFC has traditionally shied away from co-promotion, which doesn’t come as a surprise when you think about what happened to Chuck Liddell in PRIDE FC way back in 2003.
Can’t blame that one on “Vadummy.”
It’s unlikely UFC and Bellator will ever share the same banner, but it will certainly be fun to play fantasy matchmaker, particularly in the wake of this weekend’s Bellator 222 event in New York, headlined by a couple of familiar faces.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.