Bjorn Rebney and Tim Danaher have left Bellator as Scott Coker is slated to replace Rebney as the head of the promotion. Viacom announced that Rebney and former president and CEO Danaher are done with the promotion effective immediately.
UPDATE 06/18/14: Viacom and Bellator have made it official: Scott Coker is your new president of Bellator MMA.
Josh Gross had the initial report first:
Heard big rumblings all day re: @BellatorMMA. I’m told @cokersf has joined the promotion. Multiple sources say announcement is imminent.
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) June 18, 2014
MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani added on to the report:
Sources: Viacom moving towards replacing Bjorn Rebney with Scott Coker — http://t.co/kFGuxYHs0f
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 18, 2014
After the announcement, Rebney issued a statement via Jason Floyd:
Bjorn Rebney: Viacom and Tim and I differed in our views of the right strategic direction for Bellator, but Tim and I both wish them well
— Jason Floyd (@Jason_Floyd) June 18, 2014
Via MMA Fighting:
“I would like to thank Bjorn and Tim on behalf of Spike and Viacom for their dedication and hard work building Bellator from the ground up,” Spike TV president Kevin Kay stated. “They worked tirelessly in getting Bellator to where it is today. They were great partners to work with and we wish them all the best,” said Kevin Kay, Spike TV.
With Rebney and Danaher’s departure, Scott Coker is said to replace Rebney as the head of the promotion via MMA Fighting. As we all know, Coker was the head of Strikeforce since 1985 when it began as a kickboxing promotion.
The move was discussed earlier in the week according to MMA Fighting and it was a matter of waiting out Coker’s non-compete with Zuffa, which purchased Strikeforce, for him to be hired.
Payout Perspective:
An interesting move by Viacom although there was much speculation about this shakeup for a while. Rebney did a lot for the company and its first PPV did much better than expected garnering over 100,000 PPV buys despite losing the main event. Rebney, the original founder, has received his share of criticism throughout his tenure for the organization. We shall see what the appointment of Coker means for the company and whether it means a shift in direction for the company.
Maybe it was because Rebney was “dick riding”.
Good for Bellator! Comer built Strike force big enough to scare the UFC into buying them at a premium.
Wow. UFC is in some trouble! Coker is a beast and was nipping at the UFC’s toes when he had a small budget withStrike force. Now he has a HUGE budget. This guy will match or eclipse the UFC inside of 5 years. Take that shit to the bank! He’s also a good person unlike Dana White.
Fightbusiness stop trolling. You aren’t bright.
All the non competes that were signed from wec, strike force and pride are running out, or will run out soon. These guys will be back in the business soon. The UFC should have never bought out those promotions, what did they get in the end? less then 300k ppv’s and a mountain a debt .
Things are so bad in Bellator, they are no longer using a mma cage. Bellator telling fighters to draw a square in the middle of the arena and wrestle.
D- Its the truth Coker is very bright at what he does. He did wonderfully with Strike Force. He had the best Heavyweight Division in MMA when the company was sold.
Coker did do a good job with Strikeforce. I hope he does great with Bellator and I hope they eclipse the UFC. It most likely won’t happen. You are nuts also if you think that Strikeforce had a better hw division than the UFC when it was sold.
Most importantly though, you are still a troll.
Yeah, more SalDaQueef bullshit and idiocies. Right, because the ex Pride execs form a new company that is selling out Saitama. Idiot.
Coker is the tip of the ice burg bahahahah Bellator on Showtime coming soon !
How does Bellator have a bigger budget than Strikeforce? Seriously so e of you are so fucking stupid! What exactly has BMMA spent money on? Washed out UFC guys who the UFC no longer wanted? They aren’t paying anyone any money. SF paid big money for Hendo and was using Fedor which was paid for by Showtime. They even budget blows away anything BMMA has ever done and the value of their events was even better. BMMA has the worse talent of any promotion I have ever seen. They are on the level of a local promotion. Coker will be better at tricker uneducated fans into thinking he has talent to work with. But someone has to be the big fish in this thimble of a pond.
I don’t think Bellator would go to Showtime, they have a bigger audience on Spike.
I’m not sure why Rebney is out, but I have a lot of respect for Coker. He built up SF while running very lean staff-wise and he’s someone who focuses on building the business rather than getting into pissing contests with other promoters.
Bellator goes on showtime instead of wasting their time on ppv
Coker was too nice fedor and henderson broke the bank for strikeforce.
D- I am a troll because Dana White first started Trolling Boxing. making stupid remarks about the sport years ago. The momen he did that it ws game on. If he had shut his mouth I would’ve cared less about talking about the UFC.
More trouble for the ufc hahahaha…
Haha. Fightbusiness, I wan’t to get this straight, boxing promoters, fighters, etc. never made any stupid, ignorant remarks back in the day about mma? The two have been going back and forth for a while now, but clearly the boxing crowd have talked the most shit.
Also, you are irrelevant, don’t compare yourself to someone with a legit stake in the game like White or any other mma or boxing promoter.
Dw started the whole boxing is dead way before arum started talking against mma…..bellator would be a threat to the ufc now that there is a change in leadership hahahahaha
More of a threat
I don’t like this move. The tournaments were great. Without them they just become another nameless MMA organization that might as well be shown on AXS TV.
I wouldn’t know or give a fuck about Brennan Ward if he was a fighter in any other organization. He and others can become in Bellator due to the tournaments which makes it so fighters who beat the best can’t be ignored. Now we are going to get fights like the UFC and every other organization that mean nothing no matter who wins or loses.
We’ll see what happens, but what is the point of tuning in on a regular basis when the main card fights don’t mean anything anymore?
I am an idiot.
Dana started it just trying make headlines and publicity, but Arum made the stupidest remark about mma fighters being skin heads, and he meant it, what an asshole! It was also at a time when UFC was doing very well.
Dana is a boxing fan and a fight fan Arum is a money fan, big difference. Never burn a bridge and Dana has left few bridges un burned. There isnt many fights that Dana hasnt started or instigated.
Saldaqueef, you are a stupid fuck. This goes back literally to the pre-Zuffa era with boxers. Boxers and boxing has always been threatened by mma. During the whole John McCain lobbying to ban mma, all the boxing big whigs were trashing it, calling it human cockfighting, claiming it wasn’t a sport, etc.
There is a laundry list of boxers and promoters who have trashed mma-some big names who have: Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, Bert Sugar, Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, Lou Dibella, Bob Arum, Richard Schaeffer, etc etc. There are very few mma fighters/promoters that attack boxing. Just mainly White, who actually appreciates boxing more than Arum appreciates mma.
Proving again the idiot that you are.
This move could be a potential game changer for Bellator.
Firstly Scott Coker is one who has garnered a great deal of respect in the industry. Unlike popular opinion he didn’t run Strikeforce into the ground in fact they were doing well his backers wanted to get out and focus on hockey.
Bjorn did a lot to get Bellator to where it is however their use of contracts his bad PR and lack of vision caught up to him
Coker I hope will change their contracts and I am sure start to attract more top end fighters. He has always had a reputation if being fighter friendly that is something that has eluded Bellator.
Plus you have to think he must of learned a great deal in his time at Zuffa. This is nothing but positive for Bellator. I don’t believe that Bellator will ever surpass the UFC however there is now a real option for fighters to go.
Daaruk sorry I didn’t google the topic, I just was going by what I remembered. I dont get paid to do research on such stupid beefs between Boxing and MMA I am sure you are correct though. I am not doubting your dedication to your boss Dana. I actually couldn’t care less, and it means little or nothing to me obviously you cant sleep at night over the issue, what Time is it in India anyhow?? Bahahaha Facts are that it doesnt matter now anyway, Boxing has once again come back and MMA is on the down. But I do remember Boxing doing a 2 mil ppv during this nonsense of school girl bickering, so the truth is boxing never went anywhere, Too bad the UFC cut off their nose to spite their face, still waiting for that big UFC super fight in a stadium bahahaha what a load of shit!!! Never happened and prob never will, too bad that shitty promoting has held the UFC back and caused them to take a step further away from boxing, they had a window and totally blew it! But I guess their plan for world expansion is working bahahaha what another failure of miscalculation that was. Whats blunder is next?? As long as bellator can hang in there they will take the lead when the UFC files chapter 11 or seriously reorganizes. And as this BS is going on Boxing will keep chugging along giving us some great fights and huge ppv’s
No, you are just completely full of shit and didn’t follow the sport back then. You were too busy rocking your mullet, breaking boards. Anyone who followed it back then was aware. What is funny is how often you are dead wrong. I mean, it is literally with everything. Haha.
Haha. What is funny is that 2m plus ppv still was dwarfed by the near 6m plus ppv buys Zuffa did. The UFC has been killing boxing. The year still is not out yet, but if boxing does more buys/revenue, it will only last this year and the only reason why it would have happened is because of a small window of time where they have a few people who can headline a ppv(which won’t last with Mayweather retiring in 2015) and the ufc having its two biggest ppv stars being gone. 2015 for sure will go right back to MMA and you will be coming up with some other stupid fucking lie or excuse as to why it happened. You are the biggest idiot on here. You are an old pathetic loser who has nothing better to do with your time than to troll mma websites for your boxing boss.
They had a window and blew it? Delusional. Dominating the ppv world for 7 years isn’t seeing a window. That is dominating that window of opportunity. You are an idiot.
Keep sucking Arum’s nuts you geriatric.
Dana white talking about boxing is what made boxing straighten some of its shit out and why they are having more succes today. Fighters are taking fights and deals are being made just because of the success of The UFC. Yes many boxers talked shit first calling mma guys unskilled brawlers. Most changed their tune but others haven’t.
I agree that Coke is more respected. He didn’t run Strikeforce into the ground. Showtime out him under because they weren’t willing to pay what was required to keep the stars they had. Fighters got popular and salaries went up and SF was stuck in a cheap deal that didn’t allow them to resign anyone. Also like the fight Coke wasn’t fighting with the UFC. I love this sport and will always support the UFC. Any promotion that tries to make me choose has a moron as it’s leader. If I feel you are working with the UFC to advance the sport and not against them Anne being counter productive to the sport. Then I have no problem supporting both promotions. A house divided can not stand. Every time the UFC has had a rival the sport has stalemated. For one I want to see a rival embrace the UFC and find their own fan base while staying true to the accepted standards of the sport and not confuse casuals.
Coker is going to run Bellator into the ground or into the arms of the UFC. He sucks.
Bjorn and the Bellator tournaments were better at building up fighters than the UFC was. Ditching that is going to be a disaster.
Strikeforce was an amazing promotion which built great talent & put on some really exciting events. Even though the UFC is suffering from a star crisis, today they would be in an even much worse position if it hadn’t been for all the talent they acquired with the Strikeforce purchase.
Hopefully Coker has learned a valuable lesson regarding the way that Strikeforce was stripped from his hands, and If he can do with Bellator what he did for Strikeforce then this is really exciting news for all MMA fans — Unless you are a retarded fan boy of course.
on a sidenote: Good for Frank Shamrock!
Brainsmasher comes back to life…..bellator is a threat hahahaha
Good point bs. It seems that boxing could have takin note and made a few changes.
Daaruk you dont get it son. The ufc produced more events then boxing so yea they had more buys but also 10 times the production costs you amature. So how is that formula working now? Bahahaa more events then boxing and less ppv buys. Boxing could easaly double the ufc’s ppv buys in 14 with less events. Bahaha you tool.
Na, you don’t get it you queen, boxing can only sell with a few stars, half of the time they cancel their ppvs because they won’t sell. Their production costs are actually 10x less, you are just so full of shit it is unbelievable. You fabricate everything because Arum’s got you working overdrive.
You are so fucking dumb it is unreal.