Is the world of mixed martial arts ready for a new global competitor? Scott Coker, former Bellator president and Strikeforce founder, thinks so, as does a group of strategic investors in sports, media, technology and finance who are providing $60 million in financial backing. So, the UFC’s TKO franchise, led by Dana White, and Bellator MMA, will want to be careful.
After nearly four decades of shaping the global combat sports landscape, Coker returns to lead a new venture into the MMA league with financing led by investment firm Creator Sports Capital and participation from Griffin Gaming Partners and others. Additional investors include Upper Deck; Steve Kaplan, owner of DC United and co-founder of Oaktree Capital; Soemi Minami, founder of Visional and limited partner of the New York Yankees; Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk; Former Fortress Investment Group Vice President, Dean Dakoulias; and others, “including several with ownership stakes in both the NFL and NBA,” according to the founders.
Coker will serve as co-founder and CEO of the as-yet-unnamed company, which is expected to make its global debut in early 2027. Griffin Gaming Partners’ Peter Levine will serve as co-founder and chairman.
The company’s advisory group includes former TelevisaUnivision CEO and former Viacom CFO Wade Davis, former Sony Pictures Television president Steve Mosco, and Kevin Kay, former president of Paramount Network, CMT, Spike TV and TV Land.
The timing of unveiling plans for the new mixed martial arts league comes as the sport has grown into a global market worth more than $20 billion with more than 625 million fans worldwide, driven by highly desirable males between the ages of 18 and 34. “Despite this growth, professional athletes in more than 40 countries lack a clear path to career progression and access to elite competition, a gap the new league is being built to fill,” the founders stressed. It wants to “set a new standard for the sport and place athletes firmly at the heart of the global mixed martial arts ecosystem.”
The founders pointed to Coker’s track record of discovering and developing the careers of mixed martial arts legends such as Daniel Cormier, Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano.
“I always knew I wanted to come back when the time was right, with the right vision and a carefully organized team. The time is now,” Coker said. “There is an incredible demand for a new global brand in MMA. This new league is about getting back to what matters: the integrity of competition, respect for athletes and sharing their amazing journeys with the world. We are building something authentic, something that belongs to the athletes and fans who live and breathe this sport.”
Levine served as an advisor and investor in Strikeforce, which was sold to the UFC in 2011. “Scott is a generational operator in the combat sports world,” Levine said. “He has proven time and time again that he can scale his business globally and profitably. His ‘fighter-first’ attitude has earned him the loyalty and admiration of MMA athletes around the world and across generations. He is a world-beater, and I look forward, once again, to embarking on this journey together.”
Levine’s sporting record also includes representing former MMA competitors such as Randy “The Natural” Couture and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and investing in the likes of the World Golf Tour, the Par 3 Grass League, Major League Volleyball, and Welsh soccer club Swansea City AFC.
Benjamin Grubbs, co-founder and co-managing partner of Creator Sports Capital, added: “Scott Coker is one of the few operators in combat sports who has built winning franchises on a global scale, and he has done so by putting athletes first. The sport has reached a moment where a generation of world-class talent deserves a clear path to the top, and Scott has the experience, relationships and vision to make it happen.”
It is expected that the full leadership team for the new league will be announced in the coming weeks. Additional details, including the league’s name, structure, format, region, athlete participation and event schedules, are also set to be revealed in the near future.
