Scott Coker Launches Ki MMA With a 32-Fighter Global Grand Prix

Scott Coker isn't done with fight promotion. The man who built Strikeforce and then Bellator into genuine UFC alternatives announced on Tuesday that he's launching a new outfit called Ki MMA — pronounced Key MMA — with an early 2027 launch on the calendar and a 32-fighter global Grand Prix as its centerpiece.

The tournament is the headline. Thirty-two fighters, one weight class, events staged across four different continents. That's a big swing for a brand-new promotion, and Coker isn't attempting it alone — he's bringing back longtime matchmaker Rich Chou, who worked alongside him at both Strikeforce and Bellator.

The Grand Prix Blueprint

Single-elimination tournaments are Coker's signature. Bellator ran them for years, and they solve a problem the sport still struggles with: they create clarity. Thirty-two names in one weight class, a bracket, and eventually one winner. No matchmaking politics, no debating who ducked whom. You either advance or you go home.

There's one detail that separates Ki MMA from nearly every major promotion on the map. The fights are slated to take place in a ring rather than a cage. That's a real departure — the cage has been the default in top-level MMA for two decades — and it hints that Coker wants his product to look and feel distinct from what fans get every weekend elsewhere.

Why It Matters

The four-continent footprint is the ambitious part. Global expansion is expensive, logistically brutal, and a place where deep-pocketed startups have stumbled before. But Coker has a track record of building rosters and TV deals from scratch, and Chou has been his talent-identification partner through both of those builds.

More details are expected from the press conference formally introducing the promotion. For now, the shape is clear: a veteran promoter, a proven matchmaker, a tournament format that's worked for him before, and a 2027 timeline to pull it all together. If Coker can fill 32 slots with credible talent, he'll have the most interesting alternative to the UFC in years.