Ki MMA is born: Here's everything we learned about Scott Coker's new MMA promotion for 2027
· Yahoo Sports
In May, longtime MMA promoter Scott Coker announced his impending return to the sport. On Monday, it was revealed that his new venture will be known as Ki MMA.
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Coker, alongside business partner Peter Levin and Ki MMA matchmaker Rich Chou, shared details of his new promotion at a press conference in New York. Ki MMA is expected to officially launch in the first quarter of 2027 and will hold fights in a ring rather than a cage.
To explain the origin of the new promotion's name, Coker said:
"The name, to me, had to have a martial arts meaning to it. When I thought about Ki, 'Kiai' is the very first thing that you learn in martial arts — your inner yell. 'Ki' meaning 'inner,' 'Ai' meaning 'yell.' So, it had to be something 'martial arts energy.' The spirit of all life force revolves around Ki. That was the genesis of the name.
"We put it to the test and worked on it, and came out with some great imagery. I'm really happy with the name."
Several addtional details were teased Monday about the upcoming promotion, including its embrace of the tournament format.
Coker and Chou revealed that they're sticking with the grand prix tradition in combat sports, and that Ki MMA will initially focus on the featherweight division (145 pounds) for its debut tourney, held across four continents — North America, South America, Asia and Europe — with brackets of eight fighters each.
Chou expanded on the tournament field, noting what kind of fighters can be expected and how often they'll fight, including a revival of the old two-fights-in-one-night format.
Said Chou:
"This tournament is designed for featherweight prospects. The young featherweight to build the next star. The ideal candidate has less than 10 fights, 18 to 25 years old. There will be some exceptions, but that's the ideal candidate, so this is really a youth movement.
"Each continent will host its own eight-man qualifier. That will happen over the course of three events. Quarterfinal, semifinal and a final. That is going to crown a continental champion, so we'll have a champion from [each]. Those four will meet in the global grand finale. To make things even more interesting, they will fight twice in one night."
While no fighters were announced Monday as part of Ki MMA's roster, several legends and former fighters under Coker, from Strikeforce and Bellator, were present at the press conference. Names included Randy Couture, Fedor Emelianenko, Nate Diaz, Rich Franklin, Royce Gracie and current PFL featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.
Although the tournament will be a big focus, it won't be all that Ki MMA cards consist of. Only 33% of cards will consist of tournament fights, said Coker.
"We'll be looking to sign a lot of athletes in the next few months,” Coker declared. “We have a budget that there's not any free agent that's untouchable. If you're a free agent at the highest level, we have the ability to sign and fight you."