Scott Coker (born October 3, 1962) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

in, former movie stuntman, and combat sports promoter. He is the founder and former CEO of MMA promotion

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

, former president of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

, and founder of Fight Night at the Tech.

Background

Scott Coker was born in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

in 1962. His father, an American from Tennessee, had arrived in Korea shortly after the Korean War. He met Scott's mother, a Korean, while she was singing at a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

club. They married in December 1959. When he was approximately 9 years old, Scott and his family relocated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where they settled in San Jose,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1973. Coker is an Ernie Reyes protégé and full-contact fight promoter covering

Kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

, and

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. Coker has obtained an 8th degree black belt in

under Reyes and was an original member of the West Coast Demonstration Team. In 1986, Scott Coker became one of the first directors of ISKA.

Mixed martial arts

Strikeforce

Coker founded Strikeforce in 1985 as a kickboxing organization. The promotion held its first MMA event, '' Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie'', on March 10, 2006, at the HP Pavilion in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

. Over the next five years, Coker built the brand into the number two mixed martial arts promotion in the United States, partnering with both Showtime and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

to televise their events. Strikeforce co-promoted some events with Elite Xtreme Combat, or EliteXC. In March 2011, Strikeforce was purchased by Zuffa, LLC. Coker was retained by the company for a contractual period of three years, ending in April 2014.

Bellator MMA

On June 18, 2014, Coker was announced as the new President of

, replacing founder and CEO

Bjorn Rebney Bjorn Rebney is an American businessman who served as chairman and chief executive officer of Bellator MMA from 2008 until June 2014. Background Rebney attended Ohio University on a football scholarship and then attended law school. Rebney did l ...

. Coker was brought in to make it a less tournament-focused promotion. After the selling of promotion in 2024, Coker did not transition with the ownership and resigned as CEO.

Fight Night at the Tech

In March 2024, four months after Bellator MMA was sold to PFL, Coker announced that he and Gilbert Melendez will debut a new MMA event called Fight Night at the Tech, on May 18, 2024.

Awards

*Combat Press **2015 Executive of the Year

Film career

Coker has participated in various martial arts movies as a fighter, including '' Dragon Fight'', '' The Last Dragon'', and '' Surf Ninjas''.

References

External links

Short BioShort Bio
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Coker, Scott 1962 births Living people American male taekwondo practitioners American people of Korean descent Bellator MMA Kickboxing executives Mixed martial arts executives Strikeforce (mixed martial arts) 20th-century American sportsmen