Quotes from Scott Coker

When I was a kid, there were probably 100 schools in the Bay Area that just did martial arts.

I've taught martial arts to many children, from 5 years old and up - there's character development, there's respect, discipline, perseverance.

At the end of the day, it's a business about fighters and a business about people. This is our philosophy.

The welterweight division has really emerged as one of our most exciting weight classes.

Hugh Hefner represented pop culture in a way that no else could.

I'm excited to see Jake Hager debut for Bellator in 2018. When I heard he was seriously interested in competing in MMA, and when you look at what he did at the collegiate level, I was very interested in having him on our roster.

I'm not a union guy in the sense that I know a lot about how they operate. But I know fighters. They are individual athletes. This is not a team sport. I think it's going to be hard to say, 'Hey, do you mind not fighting on Saturday and walking around the arena with a picket sign instead?' I just don't see it.

Whereas there's more of a learning curb with MMA, kickboxing is pretty easy to understand and has no geographical boundaries.

I thought, 'If I can create a business to promote martial arts, that'd sure be a lot of fun.'

If the fighter doesn't want to fight, you're not gonna want him to fight. If the fighter doesn't want to fight, the promoter doesn't make him fight. And if he wants to retire, then it's time to walk away.

As a martial arts promoter and as a fan of martial arts, you go, 'What would happen if this guy fought this guy?'

I always love meeting other promoters.

My background in promoting martial arts started in 1985 when we were doing PK Karate, which was on ESPN. Fast forward to when mixed martial arts became legal in California. I made the jump to MMA and never looked back.

I think I'm going to be a juggler when I retire from the promotion business one day.

Bellator has the best welterweight fighters in the world.

Our sport has great fighters and great fans. And the fans really get to connect to those fighters.

One of the most popular MMA fighters ever, Kimbo was a charismatic, larger-than-life personality that transcended the sport.

Let's go back to super-fights. Let's put on fights that are great live or on television.

In Strikeforce, we're committed to putting on the best fights that we can.

If a legend fight comes up, or if a fun fight comes up that makes sense, and the fans want to see it, then we're going to do it. We're not going to be afraid to do those fights.

We want Bellator to be a destination for not only the top-tier fighters in the sport, but the first-choice destination for fans to see the most entertaining fights in the sport.

Spike is an entertainment company. So why not have entertaining fights when you can do them?

I think boxing is on the rise because of what Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor did. I think they captured the time and made boxing cool again.

I buy the UFC pay-per-views that are on OnDemand, DirectTV, and DISH. As far as quality, come on. These are the best heavyweights in the world. I think everybody knows that.