Scott Coker ‘absolutely’ would book Logan Paul in Bellator vs. an equally experienced opponent

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – If the Paul brothers ever want to exchange boxing gloves for MMA gloves, Bellator president Scott Coker is just a phone call away.

With both brothers actively competing under the Showtime banner, the transition could make sense if given the right opponent, according to Coker, who attended the Logan Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather exhibition match last Sunday in Miami.

“Absolutely,” Coker told MMA Junkie on Thursday when asked if he’d be interested in Logan Paul fighting for Bellator. “Yeah, and we wouldn’t do it, like, ‘OK, you’ve got to go fight, you know, Gegard Mousasi’ or, ‘You’ve got to go fight (Vadim) Nemkov’ or something or the tournament winner vs. Jake Paul.”

A few years ago, Coker and Logan Paul met for lunch in the days surrounding the Super Bowl. Coker has expressed admiration for Logan Paul since then but has been particularly impressed with both brothers’ improvement in combat sports. Now that the brothers and Bellator are both under the Showtime umbrella, Coker’s phone has blown up.

“Listen, these kids are athletic,” Coker said. “They’re getting better, but they have a good striking game with their hands. They have a good wrestling background and started learning jujitsu. We’d put them in there with people of their record and their experience level. I think we’d have some really interesting fights. Let me tell you, everybody and their uncle will wants to fight these guys. I’ve already been getting calls all day.

“We don’t even have them signed for MMA. But, ‘Hey, I want to fight them.’ Just calm down. Everybody calm down. They bring a lot of hype. They bring a lot to the game, and they create a lot of excitement. Look at what they did for that exhibition with Floyd. It created a lot of excitement.”

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The Pauls’ ability to generate interest from demographics not usually acquainted with combat sports strikes Coker as impressive. This was exemplified when he went to visit his 14-year-old niece earlier this week, who only knew who one of the Paul vs. Mayweather combatants was.

“My niece lives in Jacksonville. I went to see her before I came up here,” Coker said. “This will just lay the landscape for you. I said, ‘Hey, did you watch the fight?’ She says, ‘No, who fought?’ I said, ‘Logan Paul had a fight, you know?’ And she’s like, ‘Oh,my God. Logan Paul. Logan Paul. He’s the greatest. Oh, I love him on YouTube’ whatever, or Instagram. And I’m like, ‘OK, well, did you watch a fight?’ She said, ‘Who did he fight?’ And I said, ‘He fought Floyd Mayweather.’ And she’s like, ‘Well, who’s that?’ She had no idea who Floyd Mayweather was, but she knew who Logan Paul was. She knows the Paul Brothers.

“That tells you what today’s young, youth culture is really thinking. I think it’s just funny that these guys have really done such a great job promoting themselves and marketing and building their brand that, my niece, who’s 14, just loved the fact that I was at a Logan Paul fight, but she didn’t even know anything about Floyd Mayweather.”