Scott Coker is back in the promoting business. The 63-year-old former president of Bellator and Strikeforce has launched Ki MMA, a new promotion backed by $60 million in funding, and he told BBC Sport he still has “something else to give” after leaving behind “unfinished business.” The plan is to hold the first event early in 2027, though Coker admitted some details still need to be finalized.
The centerpiece is a 32-fighter featherweight tournament, with events planned across North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Coker also wants super fights featuring established names, and he expects to start signing free agents “in around two to three months.” His pitch to the talent is simple. He promised that “fighters will come first and we’ll treat them with respect.”
The boldest call? No cage. Ki MMA will run fights in a ring, which was the signature look of the old Japanese promotion Pride. Coker, who was born in South Korea and calls Japan the “birthplace of MMA,” made his case from personal experience.
“I’m sitting right at the cage, and once they go to the side, I end up watching the whole fight on the big screen,” Coker said. “With the ring you have better viewing and more action because a fighter can’t hold you against the cage and control you.”
The name carries a meaning too. Coker explained that Ki is an East Asian word for the inner energy and spiritual path of martial arts.
Why now
This is Coker’s first venture since Bellator, which the PFL acquired in 2023. The PFL has since phased out the Bellator brand and merged with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, and where that whole operation heads next is still unclear. The UFC, meanwhile, is in year one of a seven-year broadcast deal with Paramount and has taken heat over fighter pay and matchmaking during the past 12 months.
Coker read the room and saw an opening.
“My body of work speaks for itself, I’ve done a lot in this sport and this space and I started coming to the conclusion that martial arts was in a bit of a funk,” he said. “The UFC had started their Paramount deal, PFL was shaking a bit, so I thought there needed to be something to shake up the sport again.”
That body of work includes Daniel Cormier, who debuted in Strikeforce before winning UFC titles at light heavyweight and heavyweight, and Ronda Rousey, who had just two pro fights when Coker signed her. Rousey won the Strikeforce bantamweight title and joined the UFC in 2013 on her way to becoming one of the biggest stars the sport has ever produced.
Coker says his team has been combing gyms in cities like Tokyo and Paris for “diamonds in the rough.”
“I don’t think anyone has built stars from scratch like we have in the past,” he said. “We’re gonna go mining.” He was upfront that this won’t happen overnight, calling it “a long distance race” that will take several years, with the tournament there to speed things up.
My take: I’m in. A 32-person bracket stuffed with unknowns pulled out of small gyms in Tokyo and Paris is exactly the kind of thing I’d stay up until 3 a.m. to watch, and nobody alive has a better record of spotting a Rousey at 2-0 than Coker. The ring is the gamble. Cages exist partly to keep fighters from tumbling out, and the first time someone spills through the ropes mid-scramble in a tournament quarterfinal, he’ll hear about it. Still, if it kills those long stretches of fence-pressing that eat whole rounds on other cards, I’ll take the occasional fighter landing on press row. Free agent signings should start landing within a few months, and that’s when we’ll find out whether the $60 million buys names or just hope.
