Scott Coker

Scott Coker is the founder and CEO of the Mixed Martial Arts company Strikeforce (2006). His career in combat sports begun as a student of acclaimed martial artist and fight choreographer Ernie Reyes Sr.. Coker earned a 5th degree Taekwondo black belt and became an original member of Reyes' West Coast Demonstration Team. His membership allowed him, along with team members Julian Villanueva and Soo Gin Lee, to perform in the The Last Dragon (1985) film. Coker would again appear with Reyes in Dragon Fight (1989). Coker was involved with Surf Ninjas (1993), where he was a stunt double for Leslie Nielsen. That film also starred Ernie Reyes Sr.,and his son Ernie Reyes Jr. Coker had worked as an instructor in the gyms owned by Reyes Sr., where he oversaw the incorporation of Muay Thai techniques into Taekwondo classes. It was an offer from a student which started his fight promoting career--the Coors beer company wanted to promote kick-boxing events. In March 1985, Coker promoted his first card when he became the San Jose promoter for the Professional Karate Association (PKA), a regulatory body for kick-boxing and karate competitions. PKA dissolved in 1985, and Coker helped formed its replacement, the International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) in 1986. Coker served as a director of ISKA and later headed K-1 USA, the Japanese-based K-1 signed a TV deal with the sports channel ESPN. After the various experiences from promoting his first fight event in 1985, Coker founded Strikeforce (2006) in 1992 and worked with ESPN to air some of its cards. Among those who competed for Strikeforce were Alex Gong and Cung Le. Strikeforce had its first mixed martial arts bout on May 31,1997, between John Renfroe and Brian Johnston, at an event named "Strike Force". Coker's interest in promoting a full MMA card had to wait until California sanctioned the sport in 2005. Strikeforce became a Mixed Martial Arts promotion following California's legalizing MMA statewide, and the promotion's first MMA event was a joint effort with Elite XC (2007) on March 10, 2006 titled "Shamrock vs. Gracie." It featured Frank Shamrock and Cesar Gracie in the main event, along with the MMA debut of Cung Le. Reyes, who was a MMA student of Frank Shamrock, had introduced Coker to him. Starting in April 2008, Coker increased Strikeforce's media presence by making an agreement with NBC to air the half-hour highlight program, "Strikeforce on NBC", was hosted by Ken Shamrock and Lon McHeron. Strikeforce (2006) expanded its yearly events with an infusion of capital enabled by its partnership with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment in May 2008. In February 2009, Coker completed an agreement with Pro Elite, Inc. to acquire the properties of its defunct Elite XC (2007) mixed martial arts company. The deal included its video library and fighter contracts. (A few months later Coker made a contract with the highly regarded and sought after Fedor Emelianenko to his promotion.) The purchase included an agreement between Strikeforce, CBS and Showtime Networks to produce several events per year,including the successor of ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series (2007), Strikeforce Challengers (2009).