Strikeforce CEO Coker Denies Getting Messages From Bellator CEO Rebney, Doesn’t Make Sense

Added on Oct 31, 2010 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

I had a unique opportunity to interview Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney this past week for a podcast I was hosting. This was in preparation for the decision heavy finale of their third season. The week before, Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez completely handled Roger Huerta, and he proceeded to call out Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez. This gets a little “gossip-y” here, for lack of a better turn, but what is happening is just plain weird. Melendez pretty much said he would fight Alvarez anywhere. Before the fight, Strikeforce CEO Coker said that there were some issues with timing that needed to be worked out, and their were hurdles that needed to be jumped to make it happen.

When we talked to Bjorn, he pretty much conceded to work within any frame work that Scott Coker wanted in the name of making the fight happen. Then he said “I have tried to text message Coker almost once a day since the fight, and he hasn’t replied at all. I guess he is not interested in making the fight.” Scott Coker was on Sherdog Radio, and said Rebney was going about setting up a fight the wrong way. Saying using the media is not how you should handle business. He basically denied receiving any messages from Rebney, and said this was just a publicity stunt to get them some attention. Then Bjorn Rebney released the texts he had been sending, to another web site.

Bellator is in Chicago, where I currently live, and so I have had the chance to talk to Bjorn a handful of times. Of course he would want as much publicity for Bellator as possible, and well, thats his job. He is a promoter. Who could blame him? However, he isn’t the type to take the “low road.” A co-promotion with Strikeforce would be a big deal for Bellator, and it seems insane to me to think he wouldn’t reach out to Coker to get a fight that a lot of people want to see. Including Gil, Strikeforce’s lightweight champion.

I now have a lot of questions for Scott Coker. I assume he will deny getting those text messages, but there are dozens of reasons for Coker not to want that fight. I would think that if he didn’t want the fight he could just say “This is a business and we need to think about us first.” Or just come out and say what the UFC has been saying to Strikeforce for years. “We see no benefit in partnering with them.” It just seems weird that he would go with the “we never heard from them” line. If i was Coker, I would handle this through Melendez as well. I would be telling Gilbert to keep his mouth shut, and he isn’t helping matters by saying he would take the fight. All Melendez needs to say is “I fight who Strikeforce wants me to fight.” Melendez is basically adding a mountain of extra work to his bosses plate by even saying he would take the bout.

I think doing this fight is a good idea. I think both Bellator and Strikeforce have equal amounts to lose and gain with the fight, and the only benefit for Bellator is that they will be put on a bigger stage. I think Bellator will one day soon get as big as Strikeforce, and I don’t see the reasoning in thinking that they will have a new competitor with Bellator if they do the fight. Bellator is on all over Canada and The U.S., and are basically already a competitor. Yes, Strikeforce has a bigger stage with their TV deal, but in due time Bellator will be there too. With or without this fight. So why fight it, and more importantly why even try to lie to fans by saying you didn’t get the messages and try to make Rebney look foolish? Does Coker really think we are that dumb, and we would believe that Bellator wouldn’t try and set up a fight that would help their company? I know one thing, I was born at night, but I wasn’t born last night. I didn’t need to see the Texts from Rebney to know he was trying to make that fight happen.