Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Bellator MMA
Bellator MMA President Scott Coker, just hours before the opening bell at Bellator 241 back on March 13, shut down the entire production and sent everyone home — with pay — after the outbreak of coronavirus threw most of the world into chaos.
Roughly two weeks later, Coker and his partners at DAZN and Paramount postponed all events through April and May. As of this writing, the promotion is targeting a return to action in late June, even if it means holding events behind closed doors.
“If we get the green light at the end of June, we are ready to go,” Coker told Morning Kombat (transcribed by CBS Sports). “If we get the green light in July, we are ready to go. What we have done is map out a plan for June, July, or August re-entry, and each one of these plans has an execution of events with how many we need to do to catch up.”
Taking a less cautious approach is UFC President Dana White, who was trying his damndest to get the UFC 249 pay-per-view (PPV) event on the air for April 18. Instead, he’ll be forced to settle for a May 9 super show at yet-to-be-announced location.
It won’t be “Fight Island,” however, which is still under construction. That’s assuming it actually exists and is not just a fantasy of White’s imagination after the Las Vegas fight boss spent a weekend binge-watching classic Bruce Lee movies.
“Well listen, that has already been done in 1973 with ‘Enter the Dragon,’” Coker said. “Bruce Lee had to go to Han’s island and he had to fight Han and kill Han at the end and let all the prisoners go. That has already been done. You want to go to an island? Go ahead, knock yourself out. Give it a couple months and we will all be back to business, I believe, and we will start doing fights.”
Coker could wait a couple of months, or he could just go here.