Scott Coker says he has “something else to give” after some “unfinished business” following the launch of his new blended martial arts promotion, Ki MMA.
Ki MMA, which is set to host its first occasion in 2027, is Coker’s first business enterprise since he was president of Bellator, which was acquired by the PFL in 2023.
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Since then the PFL has phased out the Bellator model, before merging with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, but it’s still unclear what its future appears like.
The UFC meanwhile, is in the first yr of a seven-year broadcast deal with Paramount, and has confronted criticism about fighter pay and matchmaking in the previous 12 months.
Coker, 63, sees it as the good time to re-enter the MMA panorama.
“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,” Coker instructed BBC Sport.
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“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.”
Ki MMA will characteristic a 32-fighter featherweight match, with occasions in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.
It also plans on that includes tremendous fights from already established names within MMA, with Coker wanting to signal free brokers “in around two to three months”.
The project is backed by $60m (£44.7m) in funding, with Coker promising that “fighters will come first and we’ll treat them with respect”.
‘No-one has constructed stars like us’
Ronda Rousey won the Strikeforce bantamweight title before becoming a member of the UFC in 2013 [Getty Images]
Coker is regarded as a pioneer in MMA after being instrumental in the rise of former promotion Strikeforce.
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Coker factors to former UFC stars such as Daniel Cormier and Ronda Rousey as examples of fighters where he helped construct their model from scratch.
Cormier debuted in Strikeforce before profitable UFC titles at light-heavyweight and heavyweight in a distinguished profession.
Rousey, meanwhile, had fought two skilled bouts prior to being signed by Coker, before going on to become one of the greatest MMA stars of all time.
Coker says his Ki MMA crew have been looking out gyms in cities such as Tokyo and Paris wanting for “diamonds in the rough”.
“I don’t think anyone has built stars from scratch like we have in the past,” said Coker.
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“We will be in the star building business and the star searching business and that’s what we’re doing, searching for diamonds in the rough. We’re gonna go mining.
“This is going to be a long distance race and take several years to construct this group of fighters but the match speeds up the course of.”
Coker, who was born in South Korea, describes Ki as an East Asian word which means the “interior power and religious journey of martial arts”.
Coker has described Japan as the “birthplace of MMA” and wants his new promotion to reflect that.
A key change he wants to make is hosting Ki MMA fights in a ring as opposed to a cage, which was a key characteristic of former Japanese promotion Pride.
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MMA fights are held in cages primarily to stop athletes falling out and to keep the action flowing, but Coker says it makes fights hard to see.
“I’m sitting proper at the cage, and once they go to the facet, I finish up watching the complete battle on the massive screen,” Coker said.
“With the ring you have higher viewing and more motion because a fighter can’t maintain you against the cage and control you.”
Coker says some details still need to be finalised but he’s aiming to hold Ki MMA’s first event early in 2027.
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