After watching Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC and WEC, merge their two business units, Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney immediately started lobbying Strikeforce head honcho Scott Coker to arrange some co-promoted MMA action.
During Thursday’s Bellator 34 post-fight press conference, Rebney pushed for a blockbuster bout between his lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and Strikeforce king Gilbert Melendez. Rebney claimed to have sent Coker a “dozen different text messages and voicemail messages” since October 21st.
If that’s the case, Rebney needs to contact Mr. Telephone Man because there’s something wrong with his line.
“Bjorn’s saying he’s texting me 11, 12 times an hour. I’m not sure if he’s trying to be a level-five clinger or anything like that, but I haven’t received one text from the guy,” Coker told Sherdog.com. “I’m not sure what the motivation is, but maybe it’s just his way of staying in the media, staying in the press.”
While they haven’t communicated directly regarding a potential co-promoted show, it is something Coker would be interested in. However, the stars must align (no pun intended).
“It’s something that Bjorn has chosen to take up publicly and come after us,” Coker told HDNet in this week’s new edition of Inside MMA. “We’re not opposed to the fight, but the circumstances and the timing have to be right. Gilbert is going to be scheduled most likely to go to Japan, so timing will be an issue.
“[That being said], if Bjorn wants to do a business deal, he should call me directly.”
Rebney is also pushing for his champions Hector Lombard and Ben Askren to face their Strikeforce counterparts – Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Nick Diaz, respectively.
Lily Allen
Nadine Velazquez
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