UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator president Scott Coker says Dana White’s recent comments about ex-UFC fighters joining Bellator aren’t accurate.
In August, a debate was sparked with fans and media alike when Coker proclaimed Bellator’s light heavyweight division is superior to its UFC counterpart. The comments came after Jon Jones vacated his UFC title to move up to heavyweight. White was amused and called Coker “cute” after making such a statement.
White said the majority of Bellator’s 205-pound division, such as former champ Ryan Bader, and Friday’s Bellator 245 headliners Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida, were let go from the UFC at the company’s decision.
Coker disagreed with that notion and said White is incorrect when speaking to MMA Junkie on Friday following the conclusion of his CBS Sports Network announcement press conference.
“We do have the best 205-pound division on the planet, bar none,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “When you think about the fighters that we have, tonight, Phil and Machida, then you have (Vadim) Nemkov. I think Gegard (Mousasi) will eventually move up to 205 because he told me he wants to move up to 205. … That group has become a really healthy, robust division for us.
“Ryan Bader and Phil Davis, or anyone that’s come over from the UFC, they’ve come over in free agency. It’s not that they come over here just because they got kicked out. That’s a lie. The truth is they were free agents and they wanted to shop their (worth) and we offered them a better deal so they came over here. These guys are prizefighters. This is not something they do just for fun. These are athletes of the highest level and they are prizefighters. If can come here and you’re going to get a better deal, why wouldn’t you come to Bellator? If you have a better deal there, then stay there and do your thing. As far as being kicked out of certain organizations, that’s a lie.”
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Coker didn’t appear interested in getting into a war of words with White, who he briefly crossed paths with as colleagues after Zuffa bought the now-defunct Strikeforce in March 2011. The two promoters have seldom spoken on one another since Coker’s non-compete clause expired and he was hired by Bellator. Coker said he’s focused on running his business – not what the UFC is doing.
“Look, he’s doing his thing and we’re doing our thing,” Coker said. “It is what it is and you know how he is. We’re going to continue down the path and keep doing our thing and at least he didn’t say I was ugly.”
Since the two sides shared their opinions, there’s been plenty of discussion from MMA fans and pundits about potential cross-promotional matchups, and champions from each organization have gone after each other online, too.
There’s one thing Coker is confident of, though, and that’s the Bellator brand continues to gain a foothold in the MMA space with many more big things still on the horizon.
“This organization is growing and this organization has resources,” Coker said. “You can see with the move to CBS Sports Network and there will be other opportunities for us inside the family of platforms here at this company. To me, we’re going to make the right decisions and keep growing the brand with fighters. We’re a very good star identifier and I think we’re the best at identifying new stars and building new stars and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. Every day when I wake up, we’re not thinking about those guys. We’re thinking about what we’re doing and focused how we want to grow this product.”
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