Scott Coker addressed the remarks made by the UFC president after Bellator 300 on Saturday night, in San Diego.
The momentous card saw three proposed title fights in which all of the champions won. Osman Nurmagomedov defeated Brent Primus by unanimous decision, Cris Cyborg stopped Cat Zingano within the first five minutes of the the fight, and Liz Carmouche beat Ilima-Lei Macfarlance via TKO due to leg kicks. Although Macfarlane couldn’t actually win the flyweight belt as she missed weight twice.
Dana White’s Comments on The Bellator Sale
Following Dana White’s Contender Series 61, last month, the UFC President said “Why on God’s green f*cking Earth would anybody buy Bellator?” He added “Why anyone would buy Bellator is besides me. But hey, what do I know? I’ll sit back and see how this plays out.”
But White was a bit more kind about his MMA competitors after DWCS 65, last week. “If Bellator continues to exist, it’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing,” said the 54-year-old.
Scott Coker’s Response to Dana White on Bellator Sale
In the post-event presser for Bellator 300, Bellator’s president responded to his rival. Coker said “We have a great company, and when you’re talking about clear No. 2 in the space, no one has the fighters we have other than the UFC.
“So when I think about negative comments from other promoters, I’m not really impacted by that…I’m focused on what we’re doing and not any outside disservice.”
Coker Continues On Bellator Future
Coker addressed how dire the situation has been at the company over recent weeks and months. He said that the MMA promotion had been very close to going under on two occasions over the past month.
The 61-year-old directly addressed the length of time that the potential sale is taking. “This thing’s been going back and forth for how long? For the last six months? And so, to me, I don’t want to really engage in any speculation or see where the future goes, as far as, ‘Is a deal going to happen? Is it not going to happen?’”
Quotes taken from the Bellator 300 post-event interview, DWCS 65 post-event press conference, and DWCS 61 post-event press conference.
Fellow MMA promotion PFL have been reported to be the best suitors to take over the California-based business. PFL’s president Ray Self confirmed, back in June, that conversations had been had between the two companies over a potential merger.
Would you like to see Bellator and the PFL merge? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
