Coker responds to Dana; talks Cyborg, Erin, Gina

Underground
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Sorry, that title sucks, but can't fit any more words in.



http://www.mmarising.com/articles/2010/05/06/exclusive-scott-coker-discusses-womens-mma/



I had the opportunity to talk to Scott Coker for half an hour this morning and he addressed a number of recent topics including comments from Dana White, Erin Toughill and others that pertained to Showtime and how Strikeforce is run.



He also confirmed when Cris Cyborg will next fight, discussed Gina Carano's future with Strikeforce and contract status (which isn't what has been previously reported), which women's tournaments are still planned for Strikeforce and which aren't right now, plus quite a bit more.



It's a long read from a long conversation, but skim over and you'll probably find some answers to recent questions/concerns. If nothing else, at least it's the other side of the story in the "Showtime runs everything" saga.

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ttt

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Thanks Rob.

Interviewing Scott has to be an exercise in patience. I bet the man could speak for an hour on a random subject and not say anything print worthy.

Dana White, by contrast, probably couldn't speak for one minute and not say something quotable.

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Gina in another movie............say it ain't so.

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Coker > BLAF

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Great read.

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Zedlepln - 

Thanks Rob.



Interviewing Scott has to be an exercise in patience. I bet the man could speak for an hour on a random subject and not say anything print worthy.



Dana White, by contrast, probably couldn't speak for one minute and not say something quotable.




Haha.



Actually, this was one of the easiest interviews that I've ever done. It was basically just a long conversation and not the traditional question/answer thing. I would like to follow up with him again in a couple of weeks and I'll try to address more topics that cover the men's division, since this one was predominantly women's MMA-based.

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 good read..

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While you were having this conversation with him, you should have asked from him, how does it feel like to be bullyed by Fedor and his management team, and how much money they take from him.. while they are still handpicking the fights too?
I think those answers would have been great.

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 ttt

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No video? Dana will laugh this to shame!

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 This was a very thorough interview with Coker. As he said, the whole “Showtime runs Strikeforce” BS was due to Dana flapping off at the gums as usual. And, of course the UFC zealots eating it up as if his words are gospel truth of some sort.



Coker’s been keeping things on point since Don “The Dragon” Wilson was champ, so I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.


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ttt for CLAP

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liquidrob - ttt for CLAP


 coker like a promotor??

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michaelkaras - 
liquidrob - ttt for CLAP

 coker like a promotor??


close, lol

Co-promotes Like A Promotor

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 Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading that.

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liquidrob - ttt for CLAP


lol

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I'm sure Coker knows how to run his org but to me he's just not suited to be a promoter. Those guys need to aggressively push their product and constantly look for every media opportunity available and Coker seems far too low-key and mellow for that.

I know people like to hate on Dana for getting more exposure than most fighters but really that's his job as the promoter. On a small scale, Coker's approach may work, but trying to make the jump nationally is going to need someone who's willing to hype up their shows relentlessly, which I've yet to see Coker do.

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I have seen comments on another site that contradicts what Coker is saying. Even before Dana recently made the comments about Showtime basically running Strikeforce.

Here is a comment made by BJJDenver on Bloody Elbow about what Showtime controls in Strikeforce:

"this, plus their negotiations are just bad. They have far to much influence over what happens on the card, when they aren’t really qualified for those decisions. In other words, SF would be putting on better shows and doing business in a different way, probably better, if Showtime was not involved at that level.

One of my instructors fought on one of their cards, and the contract was negotiated by a Showtime exec, who knew little about mma and the pay. He tried to screw him over and the negotiations got very personal. This is just an example."

That comment was made on Feb 20 2010 in this thread:

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2010/2/20/1319139/rumors-of-fedor-emelianenko-vs#31091996

I don't know who that guy is but it at least shows there is a possibility Dana isn't just throwing stuff out there about how much power Showtime has over Strikeforce. I suggest maybe some reporter start going back through the recent cards and contacting fighters to see who they negotiated their contract with. Might turn up some interesting stuff.