Tag: Scott Coker

Archives: Meryl Streep Says MMA is Not an Art, MMA World Reacts (2017)

The original story was published on this day five years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.

On This Day Five Years Ago…

[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 9, 2017, 9:21 AM]

Headline: Me…

Meryl Streep January 9

The original story was published on this day five years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.

On This Day Five Years Ago…

[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 9, 2017, 9:21 AM]

Headline: Meryl Streep Says MMA is Not an Art, Scott Coker & Fighters Disagree

Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.

An unlikely name has entered the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) overnight. Renowned actress Meryl Streep accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement award last night (Jan. 8, 2017) at the 74th Golden Globe Awards. During her speech, Streep gave MMA a mention, although it wasn’t a flattering one.

Here is what she said:

“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.”

This prompted responses from some MMA fighters and even Bellator President Scott Coker chimed in. He offered Streep an invitation to see Bellator 170 live in Inglewood, California (via Twitter). Here is his invitation:

“Meryl,

I’m a lifelong fan of your work but also a lifelong martial artist who happens to promote mixed martial arts around the world.

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.

Please be my guest at the LA Forum on January 21st and you will see that Mixed Martial Arts is truly artistic – which will feature fighters from all over the world competing at a world class level.

Scott Coker

President Bellator MMA”

Others weren’t as kind in their responses. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Tamdan McCory was none too pleased with Streep’s words:

James Vick was just as heated over the speech as “The Barn Cat” was:

A prominent name in MMA media, Ariel Helwani, also took issue with Streep’s comments on the sport.

Even UFC host and reporter Megan Olivi took the actress to task.

It’s unlikely that Streep will take Coker up on his offer, but never say never in the world of MMA.

Continue Reading Archives: Meryl Streep Says MMA is Not an Art, MMA World Reacts (2017) at MMA News.

Video: Bellator Has Best Welterweight Division In World – Scott Coker

roru

Bellator’s president insists that the premier 170 lb division in Mixed Martial Arts can be found within his franchise

 

Image result for bellator

Coker fielded post-card questions after Bellator 169 in Dublin, Ireland. When asked about the potential meeting of Rory MacDonald and welterweight king Douglas Lima, Coker espoused there is no competition (via Obviously Fight Talk):

“If you look at our 170 lbs weight class, they’re all killers in there. We’ve got a bunch of killers. We’ve got Koreshkov, Lima, you’ve got Rory MacDonald, you’ve got Paul Daley, you’ve got MVP.

“I’m telling you, we have got the best 170 pound division on the planet as far as I’m concerned.”

 

While Lima and MacDonald have agreed to fight each other,  it is worth noting that a bout will not be feasible for the next few months. The two fighters are still injured, and no official statement has yet to be released as to when the popular, ex-UFC fighter [MacDonald] will make his promotional debut.

Watch the video here:

https://youtu.be/vN57MBmqYXI

roru

Bellator’s president insists that the premier 170 lb division in Mixed Martial Arts can be found within his franchise

 

Image result for bellator

Coker fielded post-card questions after Bellator 169 in Dublin, Ireland. When asked about the potential meeting of Rory MacDonald and welterweight king Douglas Lima, Coker espoused there is no competition (via Obviously Fight Talk):

“If you look at our 170 lbs weight class, they’re all killers in there. We’ve got a bunch of killers. We’ve got Koreshkov, Lima, you’ve got Rory MacDonald, you’ve got Paul Daley, you’ve got MVP.

“I’m telling you, we have got the best 170 pound division on the planet as far as I’m concerned.”

 

While Lima and MacDonald have agreed to fight each other,  it is worth noting that a bout will not be feasible for the next few months. The two fighters are still injured, and no official statement has yet to be released as to when the popular, ex-UFC fighter [MacDonald] will make his promotional debut.

Watch the video here:

Scott Coker Would ‘Love’ To Sign GSP In Free Agency

Former UFC 170-pound king Georges St-Pierre’s struggle to get back into the Octagon has been well documented over the past few months, as ‘GSP’ has long been rumored to be in negotiations with the UFC to return to fighting action since retiring from the sport in 2013. St-Pierre’s troubles with the UFC have taken another

The post Scott Coker Would ‘Love’ To Sign GSP In Free Agency appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC 170-pound king Georges St-Pierre’s struggle to get back into the Octagon has been well documented over the past few months, as ‘GSP’ has long been rumored to be in negotiations with the UFC to return to fighting action since retiring from the sport in 2013.

St-Pierre’s troubles with the UFC have taken another twist, however, as a dispute between the Canadian’s camp and the UFC has erupted regarding whether or not the former welterweight champ is still under contract. While ‘Rush’ claims to be a free agent who is ready to test the market, the UFC remains adamant that St-Pierre is still under ZUFFA contract.

If ‘GSP’ does find his way to the free agency market the plethora of suitors lobbying for his services will come as a surprise to no one, but one such suitor to look out for is Bellator MMA President Scott Coker. Coker was recently interviewed by Submission Radio and stated he’d love to negotiate with St-Pierre in attempt to get him under the Bellator banner:

“Well Georges St-Pierre is in a little bit of a grey area, because he’s saying he’s free, ZUFFA’s saying that no, he’s still with us. I think they’ve got some stuff to work out, and let’s see what happens after that. If he was a complete free agent and everybody felt that he was a free agent, then yeah, we would love to talk to him.”

St-Pierre’s fighting career remains up in the air at this point, but he is also involved in another fight against the UFC with his affiliation with the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association (MMAAA). While ‘GSP’ claims his involvement with the MMAAA hasn’t stalled negotiations with the UFC, no new news regarding his fighting career has come to light as of this writing.

The post Scott Coker Would ‘Love’ To Sign GSP In Free Agency appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Scott Coker “Excited” To See BAMMA Up-And-Coming Talent Friday

scott-coker

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1sqYo6iBQo[/embed]

Bellator executive Scott Coker sees several good reasons to hold a joint event with BAMMA.

One of those is to get an up-close and person look at the rising talent in the British based promotion.

Bellator 169 this Friday night from Dublin, Ireland will feature several bouts put on by BAMMA. Coker was asked about it being a “scouting mission” during a press conference this week.

“The mission statement of the company is to bring the best fighters in the world to Bellator,” he said. “So we’re going to be watching very closely I know there is some great talent here, and I’m excited to watch it and see what the future holds.”

Coker stated that a friendship started with BAMMA executive David Green over a year ago and believes that the two can work together more in the future.

“David and I became friends a little more than a year ago, and has a big television producing background, and he’s done stuff for Spike and Viacom in the past. He’s a very big producer here in the United Kingdom,” Coker said. “But as far as coming together, if you look at the background of Strikeforce or even before that in kickboxing, we were never opposed to having fighters in one organization against fighters in another organization. In the earliest parts of the Strikeforce career in MMA, we sent Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson (among others) to Pride against some of the Japanese fighters and they sent over (Shinya) Aoki, (Tatsuya) Kawajiri and some of the best fighters they had. To me, this is what martial arts is all about. We should have more events like this where top guys from different leagues compete against each other to find out who the best is. We’re not going to be opposed to that. That’s always been our philosophy.”

scott-coker

Bellator executive Scott Coker sees several good reasons to hold a joint event with BAMMA.

One of those is to get an up-close and person look at the rising talent in the British based promotion.

Bellator 169 this Friday night from Dublin, Ireland will feature several bouts put on by BAMMA. Coker was asked about it being a “scouting mission” during a press conference this week.

“The mission statement of the company is to bring the best fighters in the world to Bellator,” he said. “So we’re going to be watching very closely I know there is some great talent here, and I’m excited to watch it and see what the future holds.”

Coker stated that a friendship started with BAMMA executive David Green over a year ago and believes that the two can work together more in the future.

“David and I became friends a little more than a year ago, and has a big television producing background, and he’s done stuff for Spike and Viacom in the past. He’s a very big producer here in the United Kingdom,” Coker said. “But as far as coming together, if you look at the background of Strikeforce or even before that in kickboxing, we were never opposed to having fighters in one organization against fighters in another organization. In the earliest parts of the Strikeforce career in MMA, we sent Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson (among others) to Pride against some of the Japanese fighters and they sent over (Shinya) Aoki, (Tatsuya) Kawajiri and some of the best fighters they had. To me, this is what martial arts is all about. We should have more events like this where top guys from different leagues compete against each other to find out who the best is. We’re not going to be opposed to that. That’s always been our philosophy.”

Paul Daley Pulled From Bellator 163 Due To Weight-Cutting Issues

Tonight’s Bellator 163 event has lost a key fight. Bellator MMA President Scott Coker confirmed on Friday morning that the Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson fight had been canceled due to Daley having a difficult weight cut on Thursday. Daley weighed in at 171 pounds for the fight. He does have a history of weight-cutting

The post Paul Daley Pulled From Bellator 163 Due To Weight-Cutting Issues appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Tonight’s Bellator 163 event has lost a key fight.

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker confirmed on Friday morning that the Paul Daley vs. Derek Anderson fight had been canceled due to Daley having a difficult weight cut on Thursday. Daley weighed in at 171 pounds for the fight. He does have a history of weight-cutting issues.

“After a difficult weight cut, we, along with Mike Mazzulli from the Mohegan Athletic Commission, made the decision to pull Paul Daley from tonight’s event as a precautionary measure,” Bellator president Scott Coker told MMAFighting.com “Fighter safety is of the utmost importance to us here at Bellator.”

The promotion will still have a four bout main card and will have to move up a preliminary bout to the main card. Also, the Marloes Coenen vs. Talita Nogueira fight was also canceled after Nogueira missed weight by 5.6 pounds. Both Anderson and Coenen will be paid their show money.

Bellator 163 takes place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event will air live in prime time on Spike TV while the prelims will air on Spike TV.com. Liam McGeary will defend his light heavyweight title in a long-awaited matchup with top contender Phil Davis In main event while Saad Awad and Brennan Ward meet in a welterweight bout in the co-main event.

Here is the updated card for the event:

Main Card

Light Heavyweight World Title Bout: Liam McGeary (11-0) vs. Phil Davis (16-3)

Welterweight Co-Main Event: Saad Awad (19-8) vs. Brennan Ward (13-4)

Heavyweight Feature Bout: Sergei Kharitonov (23-5) vs. Javy Ayala (9-5)

Preliminary Card

Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Ed Ruth (Debut) vs. Mark Mangiardi (Debut)

Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Tyrell Forune (Debut) vs. Cody Miskell (Debut)

Catchweight Preliminary Bout: Neiman Gracie (4-0) vs. Rudy Bears (16-14)

Heavyweight Preliminary Bout: Josh Diekmann (15-7, 1 NC) vs. Tyler King (11-4)

Featherweight Preliminary Bout: Blair Tugman (8-6) vs. Walter Smith-Cotito (4-4, 1 NC)

Middleweight Preliminary Bout: Michael Zichelle (8-4) vs. Tim Caron (5-0)

The post Paul Daley Pulled From Bellator 163 Due To Weight-Cutting Issues appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Report: Fedor Emelianenko Set For Bellator Debut Against Matt Mitrione

One of MMA’s most revered legends could be making his Bellator MMA debut in early 2017. Hours after he was spotted throwing down in a bad blood-fueled rant about cocaine and cash with Jon Jones, Bellator’s Matt Mitrione is reported to be facing all-time great PRIDE FC heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko in a Bellator cage

The post Report: Fedor Emelianenko Set For Bellator Debut Against Matt Mitrione appeared first on LowKick MMA.

One of MMA’s most revered legends could be making his Bellator MMA debut in early 2017.

Hours after he was spotted throwing down in a bad blood-fueled rant about cocaine and cash with Jon Jones, Bellator’s Matt Mitrione is reported to be facing all-time great PRIDE FC heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko in a Bellator cage early next year. Reported by FloCombat’s Duane Finley, the fight is supposedly close to being booked but is not official as of yet.

Emelianenko was last seen winning a highly controversial majority decision over Fabio Maldonado at June’s EFN 50 from his homeland of Russia, a bout where the presiding athletic commission fell under intense scrutiny for its reportedly biased nature towards Emelianenko in terms of the result. Fedor was floored early by a barrage of punches from Maldonado and was thought to be finished, but somehow rebounded to pour on some heavy offense of his own when the referee failed to stop the fight in the first.

Before that, Fedor had returned to MMA in late 2015 under the Rizin banner, beating the lesser-known Jaideep Singh in a one-sided fight. Emelianenko’s return was promoted by Belltor in conjunction with Rizin head man and former PRIDE boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara, and will now reportedly make his way to fight in Bellator.

The news would obviously be game-changing for MMA’s second-best promotion, which has most certainly made waves in recent months by signing big former UFC names like Rory MacDonald and Benson Henderson. A bout featuring Emelianenko, a fighter who the UFC attempted in vain to sign for years, would be a thunderous move for their prospects as serious competition to the the UFC, even if he is well past his formerly dominant prime.

It’d also be by far the biggest bout of Mitrione’s career, as he put on a good number of exciting bouts in the Octagon but never really got over the hump to become a top contender. After being at odds with UFC management for years, the former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) competitor signed with Bellator earlier this year following a controversy-laden loss to Travis Browne, and has beaten Carl Seumanutafa and Oli Thompson by knockout in his only two Bellator bouts.

Those two fights clearly pale in comparison to a potential bout with Fedor, so Mitrione’s biggest fight could be coming soon. With Emelianenko still providing massive drawing potential as a legendary name, the same could be said for Bellator MMA as well.

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