"That has hung over them like a dark cloud on a rainy day" - Ariel Helwani says Bellator should have changed name when Scott Coker took over

Ariel Helwani is one of the most famous reporters in the MMA world. He has been plying his trade since 2007, when he created a website called JarryPark.com that was used to publish MMA news.

Having been on the scene for so long, Helwani has seen the rise and fall of promotions and fighters alike. With that, he recently spoke on the possible downfall of Bellator.

Promotions such as the Professional Fighters League and ONE Championship continue to outgrow Bellator, and Helwani was asked what changes he would make to reinvigorate the promotion.

The Canadian reporter said:

"I have maintained from the beginning that they should have changed the name once [Scott] Coker came in. I felt like that was a dead piece of wood, I didn't like the logo, I didn't like the name. I felt like there was a regime change and they needed to break free from the Bjorn-era, and I feel that has hung over them like a dark cloud on a rainy day."

Watch the video below:

Bellator changed owners in June 2014. Founder Bjorn Rebney was relieved of his position and replaced by Scott Coker. Ariel Helwani feels that Bellator missed a crucial opportunity to rebrand at that moment.

Coker has been the CEO ever since and will be hoping that the success of Bellator Dublin last weekend continues.

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Ariel Helwani thinks that Bo Nickal could be a UFC superstar

Ariel Helwani is fully onboard the Bo Nickal train following two impressive performances on Dana White's Contender Series. 'The Allen Assassin' has a current record of 3-0, and his total cage time so far is a mere 2 minutes and 27 seconds.

Helwani spoke about Nickal's potential as the next UFC superstar during The MMA Hour:

"There's something about him that screams potential superstar. He's a professional, he comes across like a professional athlete, like a champion. When he's around those guys on Contender Series it feels like he's above it all. Like he knows something that we don't know. That he is aware of his ceiling."

'The Allen Assassin' has a strong pedigree in wrestling, having won the NCAA Division 1 wrestling championship three times in his four years in college. He was crowned the US National Wrestling Champion and the u/23 world champion in 2019, and has since trasitioned to MMA.

His latest victory in MMA came in the form of a triangle choke 52 seconds into the first round of his fight on DWCS this week.