As mixed martial arts inches toward being legalized in New York, Bellator MMA president Scott Coker has an ear to the streets in Albany and a stable of star fighters on-deck for a possible New York event.
“Madison Square Garden is like the crown jewel of sports, of course we’re going to be in that mix,” Coker told The Post. “MMA has a great safety record. I was always confused as to why it was illegal in New York in the first place.”
As the former president of Strikeforce — which was bought out and basically absorbed into UFC in 2012 — and current president of Bellator, Coker has put on events throughout the country. He’s promoted shows in Chicago, San Jose, Dallas and Las Vegas. But never in New York.
“I would absolutely put an event on in New York [if the bill gets passed],” Coker said. “The way things are, we’ve just had to hold shows elsewhere.”
Coker says Spike TV has delivered Bellator’s bigger televised shows to more than 100 million households. He says Strikeforce barely broke 25 million on Showtime.
“MMA fans should thank Spike TV for their commitment to the sport,” Coker said.
For MMA fans in New York, televised shows will have to do for now. But with former Speaker Sheldon Silver out of the picture, a man who for years stood between legal MMA passing the Assembly, the idea of a Bellator event in New York is not so far-fetched.
“Let’s go back to super-fights,” Coker said. “Let’s put on fights that are great live or on television.”
“We built a number of stars in Strikeforce [Ronda Rousey, Luke Rockhold and Daniel Cormier, for instance], and we’re doing that in Bellator now, too.”