Time for Scott Coker to lay some pipe...

Couldn't agree more I've been saying this for a while now. Bellator needs to stop the "competing with UFC" crap and understand they are B league right now. Almost every single fighter in the world wants to be in the UFC and pretending they don't is just silly. There confusing/restraining contracts are going to make fighters go with other promotions like WSOF which clearly has no problem working with the UFC.

Most fighters are interested in attaining the most money for their efforts and not what the letters say on their contract/fighting surface.

WSOF is owned by the UFC.
 
Most fighters are interested in attaining the most money for their efforts and not what the letters say on their contract/fighting surface.

WSOF is owned by the UFC.

Yep typically a fighter can get the most money in the UFC but in the rare cases where other places can offer them more money I highly doubt a fighter cares as long as the largest paycheck possible is still hitting their pockets. I find it funny that so many think otherwise.

How often in other sports we see star players go to crappy teams because they have more salary cap room than a good team. All about the $$$
 
No name.
The sport is MMA.

Push the sport. Any "name" or "brand" is just another hurdle for the general public. What is "Bellator"? What is "Strikeforce"? etc. People know "UFC" but that's it.

MMA on Spike... make it simple and straightforward.


I don't think people have noticed, but they are promoting the events now as "Spike Presents Bellator MMA"


Bellator_126_Shlemenko_vs._Halsey_Poster.jpg


They weren't doing that before this event.
Most of the promotion posters looked like this...

Bellator_121_Prindle_vs._Thompson_Poster.jpg

agreed on the name idea. simple, yet very much to the point.
 
Most fighters are interested in attaining the most money for their efforts and not what the letters say on their contract/fighting surface.

WSOF is owned by the UFC.

Yep you are correct and which organization pays the most money? That's right the UFC. You see your thinking to short term. Yes a fighter might start off with only 10/10 from the UFC and could maybe get more in Bellator. The thing is though if the fighter has any confidence in himself (which almost all fighters do) then they are going to go with the UFC. There potential to make more money is much greater in the UFC.

So unless a new fighter comes into MMA and thinks "I'll never be good enough to be champ" they are all going to be looking to be in the UFC sooner or later.
 
Keep developing the young talent that is marketable. Let the fighters feel comfortable in their own skin and be themselves.

Go back to doing the occasional grand prix tourneys. Those tend to be bigger draws than regular events.

Keep focus on good stylistic matchmaking and not focus so much on who's the best in the world like the ufc does. Fans tune in when they know they are going to see an exciting card with fighters that are known for finishes. Championship title don't mean much to casual fans if the champ is some wrestlers with no hands that dryhumps everyone for 5 rounds.

Keep the entrances professional and not let them turn into sideshows. Ken shamrocks entrance gathered laughs when I watched it with a large group of people. Find a middle ground between the old pride entrances that most fans loved and the efficient no bullshit ufc entrances.

Embrace this cross promotion with glory. Let bellators top fighters compete against the top kick boxers in the world and vice versa. It will build both brands.
 
Yep you are correct and which organization pays the most money? That's right the UFC. You see your thinking to short term. Yes a fighter might start off with only 10/10 from the UFC and could maybe get more in Bellator. The thing is though if the fighter has any confidence in himself (which almost all fighters do) then they are going to go with the UFC. There potential to make more money is much greater in the UFC.

So unless a new fighter comes into MMA and thinks "I'll never be good enough to be champ" they are all going to be looking to be in the UFC sooner or later.

Coker is known to be good to work with. If you can sign a three fight contract with either knowing if you win all three you will be fighting people between #350 and #150 Bellator has that range to. You basically fight the same competition and make more cash (maybe even get more exposure since big fish in small pond) and can than sign with UFC if you want after (as long as you don't have a garbage contract that keeps you locked in).

Also I think a lot of fighters deep down know they will never be top 5 so when contact signing times comes they will take reality into consideration.
 
Copromote in Russia with M-1, and try to get a Fedor comeback. Highly unlikely, but we can always hope
 
Keep developing the young talent that is marketable. Let the fighters feel comfortable in their own skin and be themselves.

Go back to doing the occasional grand prix tourneys. Those tend to be bigger draws than regular events.

Keep focus on good stylistic matchmaking and not focus so much on who's the best in the world like the ufc does. Fans tune in when they know they are going to see an exciting card with fighters that are known for finishes. Championship title don't mean much to casual fans if the champ is some wrestlers with no hands that dryhumps everyone for 5 rounds.

Keep the entrances professional and not let them turn into sideshows. Ken shamrocks entrance gathered laughs when I watched it with a large group of people. Find a middle ground between the old pride entrances that most fans loved and the efficient no bullshit ufc entrances.

Embrace this cross promotion with glory. Let bellators top fighters compete against the top kick boxers in the world and vice versa. It will build both brands.

I love the idea of having 4-man, 1-night Tournaments. Can't wait to see how this LHW tourny plays out. But at least in theory, I like that it speeds things up; 3 fights in 1 night.
 
Establishing pipelines to the sources of talent is key for Bellator's/Viacom's long-term success.
...
- Co-Promote with major international Promotion Orgs (One FC, M-1, DEEP, KSW)[/b]
Cross-Promoting or fighter-lending between Promotions (in foregin markets) means more eyeballs on Bellator fighters/fights. Even if in some cases they're just one-offs like Alex Shlemenko vs Mamed Khalidov (KSW; Europe)... the big-event feel of a fight like that will naturally draw wider interest in general (fighters and fans).
From a few days ago...

ROAD FC to co-promote with Bellator MMA in 2016.
- http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/road-fc-to-co-promote-with-bellator-mma-in-2016.3141761/

Who knows what will come of this, but it's a step in the right direction. Good for Coker.
 
Some might not realize this but many European countries have a bunch of gimmicky terrible backyard brawlers with 2 fishy pro fights waiting to be discovered for the good of MMA.

I know there's a few newer respected talent pipelines out there searching for the next Kimbo Slice.

A few NCAA D-1 universities just gave a bunch of scholarships to mediocre former UFC fighters from 8-10 years ago.

Shot, broken down recovering addict Chris Leben is looking to come out of retirement. So there's another one of Cokers brilliant creative Talent pipelines coming through.


I can't wait to see all the talent they find and put on the prelims of their 4 Kimbo, Ken shamrock, Kurt Angle, CM punk events.
 
Sign Sterling and Benson and will know then that Coker is here to bring in top talent
Ken vs Royce & Kimbo vs DADA 5000 is an embarrassment
 
Sign Sterling and Benson and will know then that Coker is here to bring in top talent
Ken vs Royce & Kimbo vs DADA 5000 is an embarrassment

Probably be less embarrassing when the ratings come in.
 
Establishing pipelines to the sources of talent is key for Bellator's/Viacom's long-term success.

- Sponsorship of Collegiate and youth sports (Wrestling, Martial Arts)
More and more kids are getting into wrestling, specifically as a path to get into MMA. Why not get too them early? Involve yourself in the development process (see: Under Armour's strategy vs Nike)

- Build/Strengthen relationships with local/regional Promotion Orgs (Tachi, FEFoMP, Legacy, ROC, etc)
Bellator has already done well in breaking into the Russian talent pool; from Shlemenko to Koreshkov to Minakov. There seems to be about a dozen different Promotions in Russia like FEEoMP, which Coker can't afford to neglect.

- Foster deep relationships with Gyms/Teams/Coaches
Bob Cook, Javier Mendez, and Cesar Gracie were huge for Coker and Strikeforce. AKA and Gracie Fight team were the two cornerstones that helped build Strikeforce into the major promotion it became.

- Co-Promote with major international Promotion Orgs (One FC, M-1, DEEP, KSW)
Cross-Promoting or fighter-lending between Promotions (in foregin markets) means more eyeballs on Bellator fighters/fights. Even if in some cases they're just one-offs like Alex Shlemenko vs Mamed Khalidov (KSW; Europe)... the big-event feel of a fight like that will naturally draw wider interest in general (fighters and fans).



What else should Scott Coker do to build talent pipelines for Bellator?


...


Uh I think Coker's learned his lesson after Fedor bankrupted him and has accepted Bellator as a second-tier regional (US) organization. He even said he wasn't interested in signing Fedor.

Even M-1 has accepted their role as a third-tier regional promotion after their failed attempts to invade the American market by having events w nobodies in barns in Ohio.

And lending out fighters is a horrible idea for any org. A fighter only has so many fights in him, so you're risking them getting injured and taking time off their shelf life for another promotion to have a fight. They prolly only lent fighters out cuz Rizin paid a lot for it.

MMA is thankfully like the NFL, one major league. Boxing is the opposite and its just a mess, too many companies, you can't tell whose really good besides the #1's.
 
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