Coker: Kickboxing easier to understand than MMA
Schilling: “The potential of the sport’s growth is huge in America, and I’m not just saying that cause I’m a part of it. … In a few years, I think it could be as big as MMA.”
Kickboxing never took hold in the US, and the USA has not produced the caliber of fighters that any number of European fighters have. Finalists from the K-1 World Grand Prix include Holland (19 times), Switzerland (3), Japan (3), Croatia (3), New Zealand (2), France (2), Brazil (2), Morocco (2), South Africa (1), Suriname (1), and USA (0). Decades earlier, PKA kickboxing started in 1974 and marketed itself as “The Kick of the 80s.” However, the relationship with ESPN ended in 86, and the last event, an attempt at PPV, was in 1994.
However, Bellator MMA aims to establish kickboxing as a combat sports powerhouse. Bellator MMA CEO Scott Coker knows the kickboxing space intimately – he is the founder of Strikeforce, which started as a kickboxing promotion.
Bellator MMA was eventually bought by Viacom, after the UFC departed the Viacom-owned Spike for FOX. Bellator had a relationship with GLORY kickboxing, but again have aimed for ownership, with the creation of Bellator Kickboxing earlier this year.
When you think about martial arts here in the states, kickboxing was here in the ’70s and it kind of ran its course, said Coker to Matt Connolly for Forbes. But I always felt there was a place in combat sports for kickboxing.
If you look at Germany and France, a couple other countries, those are really kickboxing markets. Whereas there’s more of a learning curb with MMA, kickboxing is pretty easy to understand and has no geographical boundaries.
Joe Schilling kickboxed last night on the dual sport Bellator Dynamite show vs. Hisaki Kato. It was a rematch from their first fight, which was under MMA rules.
It’s smart to have (kickboxing) as part of the Dynamite show so we get all those people tuning in to watch Quinton Jackson and those other (MMA) guys, said Schilling. It’s a great chance to cross-promote it.
The potential of the sport’s growth is huge in America, and I’m not just saying that cause I’m a part of it. There’s going to be an increasing demand now that it’s promoted properly by Bellator and Viacom. In a few years, I think it could be as big as MMA.
