Scott Coker Interview

Overeem thinks Fedor is ducking him. Do you agree with that?
”Well, I haven't heard everything that Alistair's management and Fedor's management have said to each other, but Fedor -- I'm sure -- will fight anybody. So if Alistair wins against Brett, and if Fedor wins against Fabricio, I'm sure M-1 and Strikeforce will have a dialogue about that.”

What have Fedor and his people at M-1 been like to work with?
”It's an outstanding relationship. We've had some hiccups, but we're moving forward. We're back on the same page and moving forward.”

With a few weeks now to reflect on it, how do you assess your last CBS show?
”The disappointing thing to me with the situation after the fight was that it took away from three great championship fights. Gilbert Melendez beat Shinya Aoki, the best jiu jitsu fighter to come out of Japan in years, and King Mo beat Gegard Mousasi. Were they barn-burner fights? No, but they were technically good fights that fans enjoy. So we had three championship fights and then we had that unfortunate incident after the fight. So we're working with the Tennessee Athletic Commission and those fighters will be suspended and fined. “

Who do you blame for the brawl?
”I don't want to point fingers. It's just an unfortunate situation. In all my years of promoting, it's never happened and it shouldn't happen again.”

What's next for Dan Henderson?
”More fights. Dan's a great fighter. I could see Dan going against Robbie Lawler, I think that would be a great fight. Jacare or Joey Villasenor would be great fights. If Nick Diaz wants to fight at 185 again, that would be a great fight. Dan is on vacation right now and then we'll have that conversation.”

Is Jake Shields going to the UFC?
”We're having a dialogue right now, and we'll see. We inherited his contract from ProElite, and we'll know probably in the next two or three months if we do another contract with him.”

Where do Gegard Mousasi and King Mo go from here? There's not a lot of depth in the light heavyweight division outside the UFC.
”I think our fight on May 15 between Feijao [Rafael Cavalcante] and Antwain Britt is going to be great, and we also have Roger Gracie fighting Kevin Randleman, so we have some good light heavyweights. But the fight King Mo really wants is he wants to fight Fedor. King Mo could fight at heavyweight and that would be an interesting fight. Dan Henderson vs. King Mo could also be interesting. “

Is Lashley ducking Del Rosario?
”Lashley and Del Rosario will probably both fight on our June 16 card and maybe we'll have the winners of their two fights fight each other after that.”

Do you know who Lashley's next opponent is?
”We've submitted a couple names for commission approval but without athletic commission approval we can't move forward.”

Who's next for Gilbert Melendez?
”I think he could fight a rematch with Tatsuya Kawajiri [Melendez beat Kawajiri by unanimous decision in 2006], I think he could fight JZ Cavalcante, maybe Vitor Ribeiro. I think maybe after another year he'll probably have a trilogy fight with Josh Thomson, and I think those are four good guys he could look forward to fighting.”
Go to mmafighting.com for the rest of the interview.

Scott gives alot of future opponents for his big name fighters. What possible match up would be the most interesting? Which of the matchups would you rather see?

They had to submit a couple names for Lashley so he's obviously facing another can.