Scott Coker Announces New Global MMA League With $60 Million In Funding
Strikeforce founder and former Bellator president announced a new global MMA promotion backed by $60 million in financing. The unnamed league is expected to launch in 2027
Scott Coker is back. The former Bellator president and Strikeforce founder announced Wednesday that he is launching a new global MMA league backed by $60 million in financing. Scott will serve as co-founder and CEO of the still-unnamed promotion, which is expected to debut in 2027.
"I always knew I wanted to come back when the time was right, with the right vision and a carefully curated team," Coker said in a press release. "That time is now."
If you don't know already, this is the guy who basically built the foundation for half the careers in modern MMA. Ronda Rousey, Daniel Cormier, Gina Carano, Cris Cyborg, Tyron Woodley, Aaron Pico, AJ McKee. All of them came up under Scott Coker in either Strikeforce or Bellator. The man promoted over 700 events across multiple continents and was the first person to put women's MMA on national television. His track record is insane.
The Money Behind It
They've just raised $60 million in a Series A round led by Creator Sports Capital with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners. And you'll see plenty of games industry experience on the team: Griffin's Peter Levin is co-founder and board chair along with Coker. But it's not just VCs writing checks. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk is in there too. Steve Kaplan, whose holdings include D.C. United, is in there (not to mention his co-ownership of 2013 MLS champion L.A. Galaxy). Upper Deck is in there.
And when you look at the advisory group, it reads like the board of a Hollywood production studio: former TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis, former Sony Pictures Television chairman Steve Mosko, and former president of Paramount Network and Spike TV Kevin Kay are all in on it too.
This is not some startup throwing things at the wall. The media and entertainment experience behind this project is serious.
Fighter First Philosophy
Scott Coker made it clear the new league is being built around the fighters, not around the promotion.
"This new league is about returning to what matters: the integrity of competition, respect for the athletes, and sharing their remarkable journeys with the world," Coker said. "We are building something authentic, something that belongs to the athletes and to the fans who live and breathe this sport."
This kind of talking sounds familiar too. Two weeks ago, MVP's first event encouraged the same fighter first messaging with minimum payments of $ 40,000 and revenue sharing that exceeded what the UFC offered. Now Coker will enter the space with the same philosophy, but with decades of experience actually running major promotions in the back. The timing is definitely not a coincidence.
Scott Coker Picked His Moment
The MMA world is changing so quickly. Rousey just retired after showing that MVP can attract a lot of attention on Netflix. Malykhin left ONE because he thinks MMA "stagnated" there. The UFC still keeps cutting people. And now the guy who found and built half the legends in the sport is coming out of retirement with $60 million to start something new.
His new league doesn't have a name yet. Details on the format, regions, and athletes are expected in the weeks ahead. But the press release identified a hole in the market: professional MMA fighters from more than 40 countries around the world currently do not have access to appropriate and fair qualifying systems for top level competition. Coker's league is presented as the solution. It's a $20 billion global market with over 625 million fans with a chance to be the world's third most viewed sport by 2035. Coker is betting that there's room for another major player at the table.
"There is an incredible demand for a fresh, new global brand in MMA," Coker said.
