Just a few short hours after SPIKE TV sent out a press release regarding the dismissal of Bellator MMA execs Bjorn Rebney and Tim Danaher, they came back with the hiring of former Strikeforce President Scott Coker to head the promotion.
Viacom made the hiring official on Wednesday afternoon and stated that they will look to move away from the tournament based format.
SPIKE TV’s Kevin Kay said the following about the hiring in a statement.
“We are excited to have Scott Coker lead us in a new direction as we evolve the league format from a tournament-based organization to a more traditional model with big fights.”
Coker founded Strikeforce in 1985, which was then a kickboxing promotion. In 2006 the organization move on to be the second largest MMA promotion, which was sold to Zuffa LLC in 2011.
Following the sale, he continued on as a UFC exec. Earlier this year his contract expired and had been pursuing other interests.
Later today, Coker will be involved in a conference call to discuss his newly appointed position. Keep it locked to MMASucka.com for more details as they arise.
