Laugh all you want, but the ousting of Bjorn Rebney and arrival of Scott Coker to Bellator MMA could have a significant impact on the MMA landscape going forward.
How can I put this in a way that makes it almost universally understandable? Going from the former company founder to the man that helmed Strikeforce (RIP) is like sitting a plate of Brussels sprouts in front of your kid, watching them screw their face up at the miniature cabbages and then replacing them with pizza or chicken fingers or chocolate cake.
While Rebney deserves a ton of credit from taking his start-up organization and turning it into the No. 2 brand in the business, there were also some rough patches along the way — the Eddie Alvarez fiasco, managers that refuse to work with him, frayed relationships with some of the biggest names that compete under the Bellator banner.
By contrast, it’s hard to find anyone that has anything negative to say about Coker.
Ask a Strikeforce veteran about their time working for the former kickboxing promoter and to a man they’ll tell you how much they enjoyed their time in the San Jose-based organization and how Coker treated them extremely well.
UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett’s comment to Ariel Helwani on Twitter following the announcement of the change of command in Bellator sums it up best: “Love me some Scott Coker!” (Note: the message has subsequently been deleted)
As soon as Coker had been announced and introduced as Rebney’s replacement, Bellator MMA took the next step in their evolution, jettisoning the tournament format that made them stand out in the initial stages of their development in favour of pursuing a “more traditional model with big fights” as Spike TV president Kevin Kay put it in a statement following Coker’s arrival.
The UFC isn’t in danger of being overtaken as the top organization in the sport — their brand has become eponymous with the sport itself and competing inside the Octagon still stands as the dream destination for most competitors.
But don’t be surprised if Coker and Bellator narrow the gap in the next couple years, just as he did with Strikeforce.
Money isn’t a concern — Bellator MMA parent company Viacom has a Scrooge McDuck-style money vault they can dip into at any time, along with a television network (Spike TV) that reaches more homes than the UFC’s current partners on FOX Sports 1.
Over the last year we’ve seen Bellator stray from their “find young talent and develop them” blueprint in favour of bringing in some bigger — albeit past their prime — names that casual fans will recognize. They also made a play for lightweight Gilbert Melendez when his contract with the UFC expired.
As I wrote at the time, the simple fact that they were willing to make a lucrative offer to a high profile free agent like Melendez was a warning shot of sorts. It signaled that they weren’t afraid to lay out big dollars to entice established and recognizable talent to change teams and though the UFC matched the offer, it was a moment in time that should have been marked down for future reference by MMA fans.
And this is where it becomes important again.
Coker put big contracts on the table for his top stars during the Strikeforce days and if Bellator was willing to do the same with Melendez prior to his arrival, one can assume that they will become a more active participant in MMA free agency going forward.
While the UFC rarely let’s their biggest names hit the open market, the potential is there for more fighters to follow Melendez’s lead and test the waters, especially now that the highly respected former Strikeforce boss is at the helm of the No. 2 brand in the business.
We’re not even 24 hours into “The Scott Coker Era” and the representatives of one of the biggest names on the Bellator roster are already talking about how this change in command changes things for them.
Prior to Rebney’s departure, it was a foregone conclusion that lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez would pack his bags for the UFC once he completes his current deal, which has one fight remaining. Wednesday, his manager, Glenn Robinson, said his client’s departure is no longer guaranteed:
“Eddie is happy about the shakeup,” Robinson told MMAjunkie. “He wasn’t happy with the way things were being run. I don’t think that’s any secret, so Eddie was very happy to hear there’s been a change in management. Eddie respects Viacom very much and he’s always told me that.”
Creating an opportunity to potentially retain one of their best fighters is a huge positive and revamping their format is a good decision as well.
The tournament setup had run its course, as the depth of talent isn’t there to roll out eight-man events every season and things were starting to break down in terms of the pecking order for championship fights. As much as it sucks for the fighters that are queued up for title shots after winning tournaments, Bellator having the ability to simply pick and choose fights is much better for them at this point and becomes another selling point to potential free agents.
Plus, now champions don’t have to sit around until the stars align and the next tournament winner is ready to fight.
Over the last few years, one of the biggest knocks on Bellator has been how infrequently their top talents compete. In moving to a “more traditional model” there should be more opportunities for champions like Pat Curran, Vitaly Minakov and Eduardo Dantas (if he can ever get healthy) to defend their titles.
UFC president Dana White likes to say he doesn’t care about “Viacom MMA” as he calls Bellator, but now that Rebney has been replaced by Coker, the UFC boss might want to keep a closer eye on the competition.
It may not seem like a big deal, but this is a serious change for Bellator and one that is laced with positives. The UFC isn’t in jeopardy of losing the top spot in the MMA landscape, but this could be the starting point of a return to having some actual competition in the market and that is something that is definitely worth keeping tabs on in the months to come.