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Scott Coker is launching a new Global MMA League.<\/p>\nAfter nearly four decades shaping the global combat sports landscape,\u00a0Scott Coker\u00a0has announced a powerful return as he looks to build a new international mixed martial arts league designed to set a new standard for the sport, and place athletes firmly at the center of the global MMA ecosystem. The venture launches with $60 million in financing led by\u00a0Creator Sports Capital, with participation from\u00a0Griffin Gaming Partners\u00a0and a coalition of strategic investors across sport, media, technology and finance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew I wanted to come back when the time was right, with the right vision and a carefully curated team. That time is now,\u201d says \u00a0Coker, who will serve as the company\u2019s CEO. \u201cThere is an incredible demand for a fresh, new global brand in MMA. 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. We are building something authentic, something that belongs to the athletes and to the fans who live and breathe this sport. I\u2019ve spent nearly two years developing this concept, and I\u2019m thankful to Peter, all of our investors and the team we\u2019re putting together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The timing reflects an inflection point for the sport. Mixed martial arts has grown into a $20 billion-plus global market with more than 625 million fans worldwide, driven largely by the highly coveted male 18\u201334 demographic, and industry projections suggest it could become the world\u2019s third most-watched sport by 2035. Yet despite that growth, professional athletes across more than 40 countries lack a clear pathway to career advancement and access to elite competition, a gap the new league is being built to close.<\/p>\n
Coker brings an unmatched track record to the venture, having founded one and scaled two legendary MMA franchises in\u00a0Strikeforce\u00a0and\u00a0Bellator MMA.\u00a0A pioneer in the sport, he promoted the first MMA events in California, France, Italy, Hungary and Israel. At Strikeforce, he was the first to feature women\u2019s MMA on a major platform and the first to put a women\u2019s main event on national television.\u00a0Across more than 700 events globally, Coker has discovered and developed the careers of MMA legends including Daniel Cormier, Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano, Cris Cyborg, Tyron Woodley, AJ McKee, Aaron Pico, Usman Nurmagomedov and Luke Rockhold, among many others. A 9th-degree black belt in Taekwondo, he is a lifelong martial artist with deep roots in the combat sports community and the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n
Scott Coker is launching a new Global MMA League.<\/p>\n
Coker is joined as co-founder by\u00a0Peter Levin\u00a0of Griffin Gaming Partners, who will serve as Chairman of the Board. Levin has a long history with Coker, having served as both an advisor and investor in Strikeforce, which was sold to UFC in 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cScott is a generational operator in the world of combat sports,\u201d adds Levin. \u201cHe has proven time and again that he can scale a business globally and profitably. His \u2018fighter-first\u2019 orientation has earned him loyalty and admiration from MMA athletes around the globe and across generations. He\u2019s a world-beater, and I\u2019m looking forward, yet again, to embarking on this journey together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cScott Coker is one of the few operators in combat sports who has built winning franchises at a global scale, and he has done it by putting athletes first. The sport has reached a moment where a generation of world-class talent deserves a clear path to the top, and Scott has the experience, the relationships and the vision to deliver it. We\u2019re proud to lead this round and partner with Scott, Peter and this group of investors to build something the athletes and the fans deserve,\u201d says Benjamin Grubbs, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Creator Sports Capital<\/p>\n
The broader investor and advisor group reflects deep expertise across sport, media, technology and finance. Additional investors include\u00a0Upper Deck;\u00a0Steve Kaplan, owner of D.C. United and co-founder of Oaktree Capital;\u00a0Swimmy Minami, founder of Visional and a limited partner of the New York Yankees; iconic skateboard legend\u00a0Tony Hawk; former Fortress Investment Group Vice-Chairman\u00a0Dean Dakolias; and others, including several with ownership stakes in both the NFL and NBA. The advisory group features former TelevisaUnivision CEO and former Viacom CFO\u00a0Wade Davis, former Sony Pictures Television Chairman\u00a0Steve Mosko, and former President of Paramount Network, CMT, Spike TV and TV Land\u00a0Kevin Kay.<\/p>\n
Coker has begun tapping his significant network, built on experience, honesty and integrity, to assemble a global leadership team of long-time associates and accomplished operators. The full leadership team will be named in the weeks ahead as the league prepares for a global debut in early 2027. Additional details, including league name, structure, multi-region and athlete participation, and event schedules, will be announced soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After nearly four decades shaping the global combat sports landscape,\u00a0Scott Coker\u00a0has announced a powerful return as he looks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-687684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}