Bellator can beat UFC champions: CEO makes bold claim after dominating Rizin

Bellator and Rizin recently put on a historic cross-promotional event in Saitama, Japan to close out 2022. Bellator MMA x Rizin FF featured five bouts between fighters from the opposing promotions across four different weight classes.

Bellator MMA CEO Scott Coker spoke in the aftermath of the event and praised both promotions for their growth. In his post-fight press conference, he said:

“Listen, I thought the fights today were very competitive... It just shows you how much the RIZIN fighters have grown in the last five, six years, I see a big growth spurt. And keep in mind, when you are talking about the Bellator athletes, and I’m not just saying this because it’s a company I run, but, over the last six or seven years, this is the best roster we’ve ever had in the history of the company."

Coker then elaborated with specific fighter names before boldly claiming that his promotion's roster could beat fighters from the UFC:

"And if you look at every weight class, we have the best 205-pounder in the world that can compete with anybody. The best 185 pounds in Johnny Eblen, I’m telling you this guy just beat Gegard Mousasi, so he’s another guy. But, if you go all the way up and down our weight classes, not only do we have fighters that can beat the UFC (fighters), we have fighters that can compete, three or four fighters at each weight class that can compete against any company on the planet. So, we have a very strong fighter base right now.”

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Bellator CEO Scott Coker admits that it was stressful watching A.J. McKee in the main event

Bellator MMA x Rizin was headlined by veteran fighter A.J. McKee going up against Rizin's reigning lightweight champion Roberto de Souza.

McKee weathered a host of submission attempts from de Souza and did enough to secure a unanimous decision victory over the Brazilian. Coker admitted to feeling nervous during the fight and expressed happiness over sweeping Rizin.

Coker said:

"I always said my wish is to go 5-0 and I'm happy that my guys won. But to me, it was very competitive out there. That last fight, with de Souza when he was fighting A.J., there was a couple of times I thought maybe he might get tapped. So it was very stressful to watch that last fight, it was very back and forth. I thought A.J. did what he had to do to win, but you know, anything can happen in a fight, as you know, in MMA. So it was an entertaining night of fights."

Check out Scott Coker's comments below: