Eric Bischoff Believes Bellator MMA Under Scott Coker Can Overtake UFC’s Market Share in the Near Future

– During a recent edition of his Bischoff on Wrestling Podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about Bellator MMA President Scott Coker, and how he believes Coker can make Bellator overtake the UFC in market share. Below are some highlights from the show (transcript via Wrestlezone.com).

”The thing about Scott (Coker) is that I’ve seen him and known him since he was probably eight years old. I’ve watched him over the years as he’s come up in MMA and become an executive. First he did it with Strike Force and he was extremely successful with that and now here he is in Bellator. Scott is a very pragmatic guy. It’s just, “Slow and steady wins the race.” He’s not a Vince McMahon he’s more like a surgeon. He’s not going to do anything big and bold prematurely. He’ll do big and bold but not prematurely. He’s very practical. He just puts one foot in front of the other, “keep moving in the direction you’re going,” not necessarily at break neck speed but just stay steady. I think in the long term because he is such a solid guy, he’s got Viacom behind him, he’s building on his successes steadily and slowly I do think he will be in a position to do so. At the same time you’ve got WME-IMG and a whole bunch of Hollywood actors and actresses who want to sit front row, ring side. You’re going to get a lot of that influence in UFC and as soon as that cart starts to tip a little bit to the wrong side that’s when it gets ugly. It’s great right now with UFC and WME-IMG, they’re still in the honeymoon phase but the minute that cart starts to tip then you’ll see the shift. That’s when you’re going to really feel the effects of top-heavy management. Especially management that doesn’t understand the business they are in. That would create an opportunity for a guy like Scott Coker who is just slow and steady, keeping the course, making progress going each and every month. That’s when Scott will really be able to make some great progress as it relates to comparing themselves to UFC. He’s making great progress now. He’s doing extremely well right now. In terms of market share I think Scott will be able to really increase his market share over UFC once their cart starts to tip a little bit.”