Scott Coker says he has “something else to give” after some “unfinished business” following the launch of his new mixed martial arts promotion, Ki MMA.
Ki MMA, which is set to host its first event in 2027, is Coker’s first business venture since he was president of Bellator, which was acquired by the PFL in 2023.
Since then the PFL has phased out the Bellator brand, before merging with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, but it’s still unclear what its future looks like.
The UFC meanwhile, is in the first year of a seven-year broadcast deal with Paramount, and has faced criticism about fighter pay and matchmaking in the past 12 months.
Coker, 63, sees it as the perfect time to re-enter the MMA landscape.
“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 told BBC Sport.
“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 feature a 32-fighter featherweight tournament, with events in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.
It also plans on featuring super fights from already established names within MMA, with Coker looking to sign free agents “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 built stars like us’
Coker is regarded as a pioneer in MMA after being instrumental in the rise of former promotion Strikeforce.
Coker points to former UFC stars such as Daniel Cormier and Ronda Rousey as examples of fighters where he helped build their brand from scratch.
Cormier debuted in Strikeforce before winning UFC titles at light-heavyweight and heavyweight in a distinguished career.
Rousey, meanwhile, had fought two professional bouts prior to being signed by Coker, before going on to become one of the biggest MMA stars of all time.
Coker says his Ki MMA team have been searching gyms in cities such as Tokyo and Paris looking for “diamonds in the rough”.
“I don’t think anyone has built stars from scratch like we have in the past,” said Coker.
“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 build this group of fighters but the tournament speeds up the process.”
Coker, who was born in South Korea, describes Ki as an East Asian word which means the “inner energy and spiritual 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.
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 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.”
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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