8 Most Powerful People In MMA
4. Scott Coker
Scott Coker has been around the MMA world a long, long time, and has more experience than almost anyone when it comes to running a mixed martial arts promotion. How much experience? Not once, but twice, he has run the primary competition to the UFC. Those would be Coker's former promotion, Strikeforce, which he founded, and his current promotion, Bellator MMA, where he serves as CEO.
Oh, and he also worked for the UFC after they bought out Strikeforce.
What's the source of his power? For starters, fighters respect him. He's a fighter friendly promoter known for handing out handsome contracts to MMA stars. Strikeforce built a better heavyweight division than the UFC as a result. Coker has also twice managed to lure all time great Fedor Emelianenko to fight in North America.
Beyond that, his current promotion, Bellator, is backed by Viacom - a company that has deep, deep pockets, enough to give the UFC a run for their money if they put their mind to it.
Money can buy a lot, but the fact that Coker also has the respect of the fighters makes him one of the most powerful men in the game.