Bubba Jenkins didn’t make his Bellator exit on the best of terms. The once highly touted prospect now has 14 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts on his resume. His record stands at 11-3 with wins over Goiti Yamauchi, the late Jordan Parsons, and Poppies Martinez. Jenkins couldn’t quite make it to contender status with a […]
Bubba Jenkins didn’t make his Bellator exit on the best of terms. The once highly touted prospect now has 14 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts on his resume. His record stands at 11-3 with wins over Goiti Yamauchi, the late Jordan Parsons, and Poppies Martinez. Jenkins couldn’t quite make it to contender status with a […]
Bellator President Scott Coker was no fan of doing co-promotion with M-1 Global during his days with Strikeforce. When Coker signed mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Fedor Emelianenko to Strikeforce, he had to also do business with M-1 Global. That was part of the deal to bring “The Last Emperor” to the promotion. Those days […]
Bellator President Scott Coker was no fan of doing co-promotion with M-1 Global during his days with Strikeforce. When Coker signed mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Fedor Emelianenko to Strikeforce, he had to also do business with M-1 Global. That was part of the deal to bring “The Last Emperor” to the promotion. Those days […]
Light heavyweight contender Ryan “Darth” Bader is currently a free agent, and it appears as if he’s weighing in his options. The No. 4-ranked UFC light heavyweight has competed inside the Octagon since 2008, but we may have seen the last of him competing for the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion. On yesterday’s (Jan.
Light heavyweight contender Ryan “Darth” Bader is currently a free agent, and it appears as if he’s weighing in his options. The No. 4-ranked UFC light heavyweight has competed inside the Octagon since 2008, but we may have seen the last of him competing for the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion.
On yesterday’s (Jan. 30, 2017) edition of The MMA Hour, Bader said that he has an offer from Bellator coming this week, although he did admit that the UFC has the right to match any offer he receives:
“I have a Bellator offer coming either today or tomorrow,” Bader said .“We kind of know the particulars. I went out and met with Scott Coker and the Bellator boys and I liked what they had to say, and I liked what they were about. So we’re going through that process. That being said, the UFC has the right to match. It’s kind of in a weird place. I’m super-excited to be in this position. I’m in a great position.”
The 33-year-old has won seven of his last eight bouts including victories over Anthony Perosh, Rafael Cavalcante, Ovince Saint Preux, reigning Bellator 205-pound champion Phil Davis, Rashad Evans, Ilir Latifi and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
If he does indeed jump shit and head over to Bellator, Bader believes he could receive an immediate title shot, and he feels as if it would be a fight that would interest Davis:
“I do believe we can [get a title shot right away]. That’s another thing, like I said, I keep hitting on the word opportunity and the plan — what’s your plan for me? And so, things like that are being discussed. I know [Davis] probably wants to get that win back…that’s definitely part of it.”
Do you expect Bader’s next fight to take place in the Bellator cage?
In a new interview with Newsweek, Bellator MMA CEO Scott Coker has revisited Meryl Streep’s controversial comments on MMA, and covered just how he would approach things if she were to turn up at a Bellator event. Streep, who spoke out against U.S. President Elect Donald Trump at Sunday’s Golden Globes, dragged the sport of MMA into the crossfire when she stated that
Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. And if we kick them all out you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.
In an excellent response to Streep’s comments, Coker publicly invited her to attend a Bellator show, stating that he was a life long martial artist, and that
The global sport of mixed martial arts celebrates male and female athletes from all around the world who work years tirelessly honing their craft and- yes- art. They come from every country and every walk of life. We at Bellator support them and honor their skill.
He then invited her to be his guest at Bellator 170 later this month.
Speaking to Newsweek, Coker confirmed that he had not heard from Streep or her people, but that were she to attend, he’d attempt to educate her on the sport.
Part of her statement is a lack of understanding of what mixed martial arts is. I would explain it to her. As an ambassador for mixed martial arts, I’d explain how the event was unfolding and spend a lot of time educating her on how there is an art form attached to it.
He went on to address the downfall of Ronda Rousey as well. Rousey, who lost her second consecutive fight in December at UFC 207, has been the focus of retirement speculation ever since. It’s the will she or won’t she question that has everyone talking. Coker, who gave Rousey her big break back in Strikeforce, feels it’s time for the former champ to re-evaluate everything – including her camp.
She should take some time off to evaluate all the people around her, including her camp and her trainers, and see if there was a mistake made in the efforts of the people around her.
Coker was also asked about CM Punk, and admitted that Bellator MMA would be interested in the former pro wrestling star – were he not under contract to the UFC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPgoodsD-Ik
In a new interview with Newsweek, Bellator MMA CEO Scott Coker has revisited Meryl Streep’s controversial comments on MMA, and covered just how he would approach things if she were to turn up at a Bellator event. Streep, who spoke out against U.S. President Elect Donald Trump at Sunday’s Golden Globes, dragged the sport of MMA into the crossfire when she stated that
Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. And if we kick them all out you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.
In an excellent response to Streep’s comments, Coker publicly invited her to attend a Bellator show, stating that he was a life long martial artist, and that
The global sport of mixed martial arts celebrates male and female athletes from all around the world who work years tirelessly honing their craft and- yes- art. They come from every country and every walk of life. We at Bellator support them and honor their skill.
He then invited her to be his guest at Bellator 170 later this month.
Speaking to Newsweek, Coker confirmed that he had not heard from Streep or her people, but that were she to attend, he’d attempt to educate her on the sport.
Part of her statement is a lack of understanding of what mixed martial arts is. I would explain it to her. As an ambassador for mixed martial arts, I’d explain how the event was unfolding and spend a lot of time educating her on how there is an art form attached to it.
He went on to address the downfall of Ronda Rousey as well. Rousey, who lost her second consecutive fight in December at UFC 207, has been the focus of retirement speculation ever since. It’s the will she or won’t she question that has everyone talking. Coker, who gave Rousey her big break back in Strikeforce, feels it’s time for the former champ to re-evaluate everything – including her camp.
She should take some time off to evaluate all the people around her, including her camp and her trainers, and see if there was a mistake made in the efforts of the people around her.
Coker was also asked about CM Punk, and admitted that Bellator MMA would be interested in the former pro wrestling star – were he not under contract to the UFC.
Actress Meryl Streep gave her opinion of mixed martial arts (MMA) at the Golden Globes last night (Jan. 8, 2016), saying that it’s ‘not an art’. This comment has received quite a bit of attention throughout the MMA community and Bellator President Scott Coker even invited Streep to attend Jan. 21’s Bellator 170 in order
Actress Meryl Streep gave her opinion of mixed martial arts (MMA) at the Golden Globes last night (Jan. 8, 2016), saying that it’s ‘not an art’. This comment has received quite a bit of attention throughout the MMA community and Bellator President Scott Coker even invited Streep to attend Jan. 21’s Bellator 170 in order to show her the true nature of the sport.
UFC President Dana White also commented on the matter when speaking to TMZ Sports earlier today (Jan. 9, 2016), although he wasn’t as cordial as Coker. In fact, White called Streep an ‘uppity’ 80-year-old woman and advised her to ‘change the channel’ if she wasn’t a fan of the sport:
“It’s not going to be everybody’s thing and the last thing in the world I expect is an uppity, 80-year-old lady to be in our demographic and love mixed martial arts,” White said.
“If you really look at who follows the UFC and is into MMA, it’s everybody,” added White. “Like I said, I don’t expect an 80-year-old woman to be a big fan of MMA. If you don’t like it, change the channel.”
The UFC boss then said that mixed martial arts is certainly an art despite what Streep had to say about it:
“Of course it’s an art. The fighters, the men and the women, are so talented. They train their whole lives to become the best in the world and the people who get into the UFC are the elite of the elite. To say something stupid like that is like saying she’s not a talented actress, which she is.”
The 74th installment of the Golden Globes took place last night (Jan. 8, 2016) and surprisingly, mixed martial arts came up during actress Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. During her speech, Streep proclaimed that MMA ‘is not the arts’. Check out what she had to say below: “Who
The 74th installment of the Golden Globes took place last night (Jan. 8, 2016) and surprisingly, mixed martial arts came up during actress Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. During her speech, Streep proclaimed that MMA ‘is not the arts’.
Check out what she had to say below:
“Who are we, and what is Hollywood anyway? It’s just a bunch of people from other places,” proclaimed Streep during her acceptance speech. ” … So, Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. And if we kick them all out, we’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”
In response to her comments, Bellator boss Scott Coker invited Streep to attend Bellator 170, which will take place on Jan. 21, 2016 at The Forum in Inglewood, California:
