{"id":262350,"date":"2017-10-25T12:19:32","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T19:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=262350"},"modified":"2017-10-25T12:19:32","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T19:19:32","slug":"scott-coker-gives-timeframe-for-bellator-heavyweight-title-fight-lists-possible-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/scott-coker\/scott-coker-gives-timeframe-for-bellator-heavyweight-title-fight-lists-possible-contenders\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Coker gives timeframe for Bellator heavyweight title fight, lists possible contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bellator’s heavyweight division is starting to look pretty damn good. The division’s top fighters include Matt Mitrione, Cheick Kongo, and Roy Nelson, while other stars like Fedor Emelianenko<\/a>, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Bobby Lashley, Javy Ayala, and Sergey Kharitonov are also in the mix. Unfortunately, however, the division doesn’t have a champion, and hasn’t since former champ, Vitaly Minakov, was stripped in the midst of a contract dispute. Yet according to Bellator head honcho Scott Coker, that could change in the first quarter of 2018.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think that we\u2019ll probably crown a new champion first quarter of next year and then we\u2019ll start having a lot more fights in the heavyweight division,\u201d Coker said on the latest episode of The MMA Hour<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some great heavyweights now, there\u2019s a lot of matchups that I can\u2019t wait to see and I\u2019m excited about 2018. I think 2018 is going to be a very busy year, a big growth year for Bellator, and the heavyweight division will be a big part of it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Coker then shared the names he believes will be considered when Bellator crowns its heavyweight king.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think you can kind of put the names in the mix,” Coker said. “I think of Mitrione, who has a victory over Fedor; I think of Roy Nelson; I think of Cheick Kongo; there\u2019s a lot of guys that I think. Even\u00a0\u2018King Mo,\u2019\u00a0[though he lost\u00a0to\u00a0Mirko Cro Cop in Rizin\u00a0last year], but he\u2019s beaten Kongo and he wants to stay at heavyweight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Coker also discussed a possible Bellator heavyweight tournament<\/a>, nostalgically referencing the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix he promoted back in the day.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cIt was an amazing tournament, that\u2019s when we had a young Alistair Overeem, a young Fabricio Werdum, Fedor was in his prime. It was just great, great stuff,\u201d Coker said. \u201cWe always like doing a lot of fun stuff like that, and who knows? But let\u2019s go crown a champion first and then we\u2019ll go from there.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Who do you think will emerge the Bellator heavyweight champion? Do you think Scott Coker should promote another tournament?<\/p>\n

\"Cheick<\/p>\n

This article first appeared on\u00a0<\/i>BJPenn.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on 10\/25\/2017. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bellator’s heavyweight division is starting to look pretty damn good. The division’s top fighters include Matt Mitrione, Cheick Kongo, and Roy Nelson, while other stars like Fedor Emelianenko, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Bobby Lashley, Javy Ayala, and Sergey Kharitonov are also in the mix. Unfortunately, however, the division doesn’t have a champion, and hasn’t since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":161509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10122],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nScott Coker gives timeframe for Bellator heavyweight title fight, lists possible contenders | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bellator President Scott Coker gives a timeframe for the possible crowning of Bellator heavyweight champion, and discusses who it might involve.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/scott-coker\/scott-coker-gives-timeframe-for-bellator-heavyweight-title-fight-lists-possible-contenders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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