Interview: Mixed Martial Arts-Bellator would welcome boxing act in MMA, says CEO

Paramount Global

18/02/2021 18:51

By Philip O'Connor
    STOCKHOLM, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Mixed martial arts has nothing
to fear from the extension of legal protections to fighters that
originated in boxing, Bellator CEO Scott Coker has said in the
wake of two new TV deals that will move MMA further towards the
mainstream. 
    Coker's promotion recently announced broadcast deals with
Showtime in the U.S. and the BBC's iPlayer streaming service in
the United Kingdom, and he said his organisation would welcome
the extension of the Ali Act, named after Muhammad Ali and
designed to protect the rights and welfare of boxers, to MMA.
    "Boxing has had it for decades, and if the government moves
towards that in MMA, we'll embrace it. We're not going to fight
it, and it might be the best thing for everybody," the
58-year-old Coker said in a telephone interview. 
    "To be honest, it puts everybody on an equal playing field,
us included... I think it might be a blessing in disguise." 
    The Ali Act was originally enacted in May 2000 to protect
the rights and welfare of boxers, to aid state boxing
commissions with the oversight of boxing and to address issues
of sportsmanship and integrity in the industry.
    One major issue for MMA is that the Ali Act bans promoters
from having a 'direct or indirect' financial interest in a
fighter. MMA fighters usually sign exclusive contracts with
promotions and are not allowed to negotiate freely with others. 
    The application of the act to MMA could also see a system of
external rankings and mandatory title challengers imposed. 
    In 2016 a bill was introduced by Congressman and former
fighter Markwayne Mullin to extend the Ali Act to MMA, and the
recent change in government in the United States has re-ignited
talk in the sport that more regulation may be on the way.  
    The UFC, the biggest promotion in MMA, has previously told
Reuters it would oppose such a move as it would affect their
ability to match-make freely, but Coker and Bellator take a
different view.
    "We've always been a 'fighters first' organisation, and if
they (fighters) want to go this route and the government wants
to go this route, then we'll do it, we'll abide by it. We'll
make some adjustments and it's business as usual, as far as I'm
concerned," he said. 
    Bellator staged 18 events, including an undercard from Paris
broadcast on iPlayer, in a 2020 calendar severely curtailed by
the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Viacom-owned promotion has safety
measures in place as it ramps up its activity again.
    "We are still under the guidelines of the Viacom protocol
committee, we are governed just like Paramount Pictures," Coker
said. "Let's say they’re doing a movie or a TV production, we
are in the middle of that as well because we have to abide by
their protocols.
    "On a fight week I'm normally out and about, now I'm in my
hotel room 80 percent of the time, but if that's what it takes
to continue to do fights and to provide content for Showtime and
broadcast partners and, most importantly, for the fighters...
we're going to stay in our bubble."
     With major TV deals secured in the U.S., U.K. and Russia,
Bellator are now turning their attention to other
markets.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nXXN2GZ000
    "In most parts of the world, you will be able to see
Bellator live before April 2," Coker said.

 (Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
 ((philip.oconnor@thomsonreuters.com))