Tag: Scott Coker

Rory MacDonald Says He & Bellator Will ‘Take Over’

Shortly after making the decision to pack up and leave his longtime home in the UFC in favor of Bellator mixed martial arts (MMA), former UFC 170-pound title challenger Rory MacDonald was introduced to the public for the first time as a Bellator MMA competitor and he wasted no time to take a few jabs

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Shortly after making the decision to pack up and leave his longtime home in the UFC in favor of Bellator mixed martial arts (MMA), former UFC 170-pound title challenger Rory MacDonald was introduced to the public for the first time as a Bellator MMA competitor and he wasted no time to take a few jabs at his former employers.

During the press event the 27-year-old welterweight stud, courtesy of MMA Fighting, stated that Bellator’s production of their shows was a key factor in his decision to sign with them:

“The production of the show, it just stands out right away,” MacDonald said. “The big screens, the entrances. They do it bigger. They do it right here. It’s a fight show here.

They want to promote a fighter, they want to build it. It’s not generic where everyone is wearing the same thing. We get to be our own individual self, promote ourselves.

Where I was before, everyone is wearing the same uniforms now, we’re all walking out of the same, boring dressing room or the gate. It’s boring. People are tired of that.”

057_Robbie_Lawler_vs_Rory_MacDonald.0.0[1]‘The Red King’ says that negotiations with Bellator and the UFC have been ongoing for quite sometime now, however, now that he is with Bellator he is ready to takeover the sport with his new promotion:

“It’s been a long time in the making,” MacDonald said. “I’ve had a lot to consider probably over a year. We’ve been in talks with Bellator for a long time now. It’s gone back and forth with the UFC. We’ve put a great deal together.

We’re gonna build a great business together. Bellator believes in me; I believe in the company. We’re gonna take it to the next level. We’re gonna take over.

We’re gonna take Bellator into Canada and we’re gonna do it big,” MacDonald said. “We’re gonna reinvigorate that market. Those fans are gonna get a proper fight show again.

The tide is turning,” he said. “For me, that title fight against Robbie was an eye-opener. It was like, OK we got to the show where you wanted to go, it didn’t work out, but now it’s time to start making some money.”

MacDonald also took aim at the UFC’s recent partnership with Reebok for their fighter’s exclusive apparel, something the young Canadian says made him feel like a ‘robot’ looking the same as his fellow combatants:

“You walk into that cage like every single other person out there on the roster,” MacDonald said. “You’re basically like a robot walking into the cage with the same jersey on, there’s no difference between this guy and that guy.

It’s boring, I find it. It’s very plain. I understand where they’re trying to go with it, but that’s just not fight sport.

There’s no personality there.”

You can check out highlights from MacDonald and Bellator President Scott Coker’s press conference here:

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Bellator MMA Denies Falsified Medical Report Accusations, Suing Ex-Employee

Bellator MMA and promotion president Scott Coker have found themselves in hot water thanks to an ex-employee and longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Zach Light. Light once worked as Bellator MMA’s Talent Development Director. Light filed a lawsuit in Superior Court of California (Los Angeles) on Tuesday (May 24, 2016) and accused Bellator of

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Bellator MMA and promotion president Scott Coker have found themselves in hot water thanks to an ex-employee and longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Zach Light. Light once worked as Bellator MMA’s Talent Development Director.

Light filed a lawsuit in Superior Court of California (Los Angeles) on Tuesday (May 24, 2016) and accused Bellator of multiple ethical and legal wrongdoings as well as falsifying medical records. Light went on an eleven-month medical leave due to medically-diagnosed depression after suffering an anxiety attack. Light was released from his position in the company a week after his leave ended on March 10th, 2016. Light wants damages for wrongful dismissal.

Also, Light accused Coker and Bellator Vice President Rich Chou of being in cahoots and downplaying any issues found during his course of duty. According to Light, he was “pressured” to play ball and bend some rules. One of the accusations is “collusive fights” to get revenge on unpopular MMA managers.

Bellator has fired back at Light’s allegations on Tuesday. Bellator filed an Answer denying Light’s allegations and a Cross-Complaint accusing him of theft and conversion. “Bellator and Viacom deny each and every allegation of the Complaint and further deny that Light is entitled to any relief whatsoever,” wrote Bellator in its Answer.

Bellator claims in the Cross-Complaint that Light had difficulty managing his family budget and was experiencing “financial distress.” The company allegedly agreed to loan Light $9,403 and claims to have formalized a written agreement on Dec. 18, 2014, for the $6,974.57 balance in which Light was to repay in installments of $240.50 every pay period.

Light’s job in the promotion was collecting and remitting money from the sale of consignment and VIP tickets for events.

“Although Mr. Light remitted to Bellator at least some of the money he collected from the sale of tickets in the days leading up to the event, he failed to remit thousands of dollars he collected. Mr. Light failed to turn in a total of $4,600 in VIP ticket money he collected for Bellator 136.

“On the following Monday, April 13, 2016, Mr. Light failed to report for work and informed Bellator that he could not return for medical reasons.”

“Bellator personnel attempted to contact Mr. Light about the missing ticket money but received no response.

“A few days later, on or around April 17, 2015, [Bellator CFO] Mr. O’Roark sent Mr. Light a text message stating: ‘Zach just checking in to see if you got my email about my picking up the ticket money we didn’t connect on at the event last Friday.’ Mr. Light responded: ‘I thought I gave that to Jane [Manager of Talent Relations at Bellator]. If I have it, it’s in my safe at home. If she says I didn’t give it to her, that means I probably have it. I’m on disability. I don’t have access to anything right now. It will have to be next week.’

“Later, when confronted about the missing ticket money again, Mr. Light claimed that he did not have it, and, contrary to his prior text message to Mr. O’Roark, he said that he turned it in after Bellator 136 ended on April 10, 2015.

“Despite multiple inquiries to Mr. Light about the missing ticket money and requests that he return it immediately, he has never done so.”

Bellator also claims that Light remained on medical leave for almost a year, “well beyond the maximum job-protected leave available to him under federal and/or state law.”

Bellator is suing Light for conversion and theft for allegedly failing to remit $4,600 in VIP ticket money and for breach of contract for allegedly failing to satisfy the terms of his loan.

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Scott Coker: Bellator’s Value Increased Because Of UFC Sale

The sale of the UFC was not only the biggest news story of the week but of the year and possibly of all-time. Not only did it affect the UFC but in MMA in general and that includes the second biggest MMA promotion in the world, Bellator MMA. Bellator President Scott Coker spoke with MMAjunkie

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The sale of the UFC was not only the biggest news story of the week but of the year and possibly of all-time. Not only did it affect the UFC but in MMA in general and that includes the second biggest MMA promotion in the world, Bellator MMA.

Bellator President Scott Coker spoke with MMAjunkie on Thursday after a news conference to promote Saturday’s Spike-televised Bellator 158 event at The O2 in London about the sale.

“I was really excited, because for our sport, what a great accomplishment,” Coker said. “It gives MMA the respectability and credibility that MMA is a real sport, and that MMA has a future. And if you’re investing in MMA, it’s a good vehicle to invest, because there’s an end strategy. They proved it.”

“It’s just like when the (Los Angeles) Clippers got bought,” he said. “What happened to the team’s values? Everything goes up. I told everybody, we should be celebrating with (UFC Chairman) Lorenzo (Fertitta) and (UFC President) Dana (White), popping champagne with them, because our valuation just went up, boys.”

Bellator could use a bump in moment and hopefully for them the UFC sale and Saturday’s event can do just that. Douglas Lima vs. Paul Daley will headline Bellator 158 in a welterweight bout while Matt Mitrione vs. Oli Thompson will co-headline the event.

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Report: Bellator Has Begun Talks With Free Agent Rory MacDonald

A few months back, former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory “Red King” MacDonald, a man who has loomed atop the promotion’s 170-pound division for years now, made it clear that he was interested in testing free agency after fighting out the last fight on his contract in hopes of finding the best deal possible. Well,

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A few months back, former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory “Red King” MacDonald, a man who has loomed atop the promotion’s 170-pound division for years now, made it clear that he was interested in testing free agency after fighting out the last fight on his contract in hopes of finding the best deal possible.

Well, that last fight has come and gone, and it didn’t end particularly well for MacDonald, as the Canadian dropped a very one-sided decision to surging contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson last month in Ottawa.

Now, the 26-year-old MacDonald is free to test the free agency waters and according to a tweet from MMAJunkie’s Chamatkar Sandhu, the “Red King” has already received interest from Bellator President Scott Coker:

We have seen multiple former UFC fighters jump ship and head to Bellator in recent memory including veterans Josh Koscheck and Josh Thomson as well as former lightweight champion Benson Henderson.

Prior to his loss to “Wonderboy” MacDonald had won three of his last four with the only loss in that stretch coming in a five round war for the ages against reigning UFC king Robbie Lawler in July 2015. Those three victories came opposite the likes of Demian Maia, current title challenger Tyron Woodley, and Tarec Saffiedine. MacDonald also owns wins over Nate Diaz, B.J Penn, and Jake Ellenberger.

Already an established star at the young age of 26, MacDonald undoubtedly has room to grow, and obviously has a long career ahead of him. Do you see Bellator luring in the “Red King”, or will MacDonald remain with the world’s largest mixed martial arts organization?

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Bellator MMA President Scott Coker Issues Statement On Kimbo Slice’s Passing

Shortly after the news became public late Monday evening that Bellator MMA fighter Kimbo Slice (Kevin Ferguson) passed away at age 42, current Bellator MMA President Scott Coker issued a statement on the passing of the legendary street brawler turned M…

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Shortly after the news became public late Monday evening that Bellator MMA fighter Kimbo Slice (Kevin Ferguson) passed away at age 42, current Bellator MMA President Scott Coker issued a statement on the passing of the legendary street brawler turned MMA fighter.

Scott Coker issued the following statement on the official Bellator MMA website at Bellator.Spike.com:

“We are all shocked and saddened by the devastating and untimely loss of Kimbo Slice, a beloved member of the Bellator family. One of the most popular MMA fighters ever, Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that transcended the sport.

“Outside of the cage he was a friendly, gentle giant and a devoted family man. His loss leaves us all with extremely heavy hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Ferguson family and all of Kimbo’s friends, fans, and teammates.”

Former Bellator Executive Sues The Company, Makes Series Of Serious Allegations

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Former Bellator MMA Talent Development Director Zach Light has filed a lawsuit against the promotion, as well as their parent company Viacom, for wrongful dismissal in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Light was released from his role in the company back on March 17, 2016 and is now seeking damages. Additionally, Light, who also worked for the UFC and Strikeforce promotions in the past, made a series of allegations that claim Bellator MMA made a number of unethical and potentially illegal breaches while promoting and staging events.

Among his claims, Light is alleging that he became aware of fighters using fraudulent medical reports to obtain licenses. Upon bringing this to the attention of Bellator MMA management, Light claims he was sternly rebuffed and his job with the company was threatened.

“Approximately 48 hours prior to [Ryan] Martinez’s scheduled fight at Bellator 126, [Light] promptly reported what he had learned to Rich Chou, defendant BELLATOR’s Vice President of Talent. Chou assured [Light] that he would follow up and that [Light] should focus on his job. When [Light] heard nothing further from Chou, he approached [Bellator President Scott] Coker regarding Martinez’ impending fight based on forged medicals, in violation of Arizona law. Coker told [Light] to ‘do what Chou told you to do,’ without addressing these issues. Thereafter, [Light] again brought the subject up to Chou. Chou threatened[Light] with termination if he kept pushing the issue. [Light] later learned that after losing his bout, Martinez never resumed his mixed martial arts career.”

Light is also claiming Coker asked him to arrange matches between fighters represented by a manager with a poor relationship with Bellator leadership against fighters who’d likely beat them. The reason, according to Light, is because Bellator would then have grounds to release them. This is also the method Bellator wanted to use, according to Light, as revenge against a manager who represented Quinton “Rampage” Jackson back when Rampage signed with the UFC while still under contract with the UFC.

For a very thorough breakdown of Zach Light’s lawsuit against Bellator MMA, where a number of other serious allegations are made, including an explanation of what everything means, read Paul Gift’s article on the subject at BloodyElbow.com.

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Former Bellator MMA Talent Development Director Zach Light has filed a lawsuit against the promotion, as well as their parent company Viacom, for wrongful dismissal in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Light was released from his role in the company back on March 17, 2016 and is now seeking damages. Additionally, Light, who also worked for the UFC and Strikeforce promotions in the past, made a series of allegations that claim Bellator MMA made a number of unethical and potentially illegal breaches while promoting and staging events.

Among his claims, Light is alleging that he became aware of fighters using fraudulent medical reports to obtain licenses. Upon bringing this to the attention of Bellator MMA management, Light claims he was sternly rebuffed and his job with the company was threatened.

“Approximately 48 hours prior to [Ryan] Martinez’s scheduled fight at Bellator 126, [Light] promptly reported what he had learned to Rich Chou, defendant BELLATOR’s Vice President of Talent. Chou assured [Light] that he would follow up and that [Light] should focus on his job. When [Light] heard nothing further from Chou, he approached [Bellator President Scott] Coker regarding Martinez’ impending fight based on forged medicals, in violation of Arizona law. Coker told [Light] to ‘do what Chou told you to do,’ without addressing these issues. Thereafter, [Light] again brought the subject up to Chou. Chou threatened[Light] with termination if he kept pushing the issue. [Light] later learned that after losing his bout, Martinez never resumed his mixed martial arts career.”

Light is also claiming Coker asked him to arrange matches between fighters represented by a manager with a poor relationship with Bellator leadership against fighters who’d likely beat them. The reason, according to Light, is because Bellator would then have grounds to release them. This is also the method Bellator wanted to use, according to Light, as revenge against a manager who represented Quinton “Rampage” Jackson back when Rampage signed with the UFC while still under contract with the UFC.

For a very thorough breakdown of Zach Light’s lawsuit against Bellator MMA, where a number of other serious allegations are made, including an explanation of what everything means, read Paul Gift’s article on the subject at BloodyElbow.com.