Scott Coker, the other guy in the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce, sat down for a lengthy interview with HDNet's Bas Rutten. Coker was grilled on many of the hot button issues that last Monday's� conference call never hit on.
Rutten asked the Strikeforce CEO if he thinks fans will ever see Josh Barnett, Paul Daley or Fedor Emelianenko in the UFC. Coker said he didn't know (11:35 mark), but added that he hoped all three continued to fight with Strikeforce.
Other interesting points included:
Coker confirmed that the deal between Zuffa and SVSE came together quickly. He only informed Showtime of the sale one day before the news leaked on Mar. 12.
He denied the rumors that Josh Barnett will be removed from the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix and replaced by Shane Carwin.
The Strikeforce boss joked about his first meetings with the UFC brass talking about Zuffa's 25-person marketing and P.R. staff. He brought along his two employees in those positions (4:40 mark).
Coker is excited about the new resources behind Strikeforce and growth possibilities which include a goal of pay-per-view by the end of 2011.
Surprisingly, even with a roster of 150-plus fighters, Coker says "business as usual" also includes signing new fighters in the future (9:00 mark).
Read into it anyway you'd like - Coker was asked if the purchase by UFC was a good or bad day, he answered by it's a reality (9:30 mark).
Showtime got the call the day before the news leaked 11 days ago, but Coker still hasn't had a chance to speak with M-1 promotions, Fedor's management team (13:25 mark).
Hopefully, Coker is involved in the MMA business at the highest level for years to come. He's definitely an asset, who puts the fans first. He did an amazing job turning a regional promotion, which held its first big fight in Apr. of 2009, into something worth buying for an estimated $40 million less than two years later.
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