When Strikeforce sold in 2011 and the promotion was later shuttered, Gilbert Melendez never imagined he would end up working with former owner Scott Coker.
For a huge part of Melendez’s career, Coker was his promoter. But now, they’ll team up to help launch a new organization called Fight Night at the Tech, which features a mix of veterans and up-and-coming fighters competing close to where Strikeforce once called home.
Melendez said the chance to wear a different hat as a spokesperson and ambassador for the new brand – plus working with Coker again – really did feel like a dream come true.
“Scott Coker and I have had a great relationship for years,” Melendez told MMA Fighting. “Scott has come to my wedding. He helped promote me as a fighter, but not only me but my wife; my wife before we even knew each other. So we have such a great relationship, and with getting wind of Bellator ending and knowing Scott, he wanted to maybe chill for a little bit. But I’m a fighter, he’s a fighter at heart. He’s a martial artist. We started sitting down, brainstorming. figuring out things we could do, maybe I would fight again, maybe we’ll do some stuff. I was really pressuring him to do something with me, and I even threw in some fight stuff, like I’m really ready to step into that avenue in a little bit and see what I can do.
“After constant meetings and us talking about it, I think it was important for him to bring martial arts back to the Bay Area. We have so much talent out here, and he feels it’s his obligation to revive Bay Area mixed martial arts with all this talent out here. He selected me. He gave me the option saying, ‘I really want you to lead this, I want you to be a spokesperson and ambassador for it,’ and here we are.”
Coker’s official title is executive producer; he co-owned Strikeforce and then served as president in Bellator for nearly a decade. That role ended after the PFL bought out Bellator and absorbed the promotion, but Coker opted not to stick around in a different role with the organization.
Instead, he’ll team up with Melendez on Fight Night at the Tech. The first card is scheduled for May 18 and the hope is to promote at least four cards per year moving forward.
