Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. This past week, Bellator MMA president Scott Coker
proudly proclaimed that his organization possessed the best
205-pound talent pool in mixed martial arts. That statement was based both on pound-for-pound king Jon Jones’
decision to move up to heavyweight in the UFC along with Bellator’s
own growing stockpile of fighters at light heavyweight – a stable
that now includes recent free-agent signee Corey
Anderson.
Not surprisingly, UFC president Dana White isn’t buying it.
“Isn’t he cute?” White said of Coker at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 15
post-fight press conference.
“Everybody they have in their light heavyweight division we let go
of. He’s got the best light heavyweight division? We let those guys
all go. It’s like the f—ing dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” he
later added. “But I get it. He’s got to try to f–ing do his thing.
I’m not s—ing on him. He’s got to try to sell fights. The way you
don’t sell fights is ‘Oh I’ve got the best light heavyweight
division in the world,’ when everybody that was there was let go
from here. It’s a pretty silly statement.”
It’s not entirely true that all of Bellator’s top 205-pound
fighters are UFC castoffs. Vadim
Nemkov, who knocked at Ryan Bader to
claim light heavyweight gold in the Bellator 244 headliner on
Friday, is essentially a homegrown talent who is building a resume
that can match many of the best of the division’s Top 10.
Meanwhile, Anderson’s release earlier this month came as something
of a surprise considering “The Ultimate Fighter 19” winner had been
victorious in four of his last five fights within the Las
Vegas-based promotion. However, a knockout defeat at the hands of
Jan
Blachowicz in February knocked “Overtime” back significantly in
the light heavyweight championship discussion.
Ultimately, White said it was the best decision for all parties
involved.
“It’s the right move for him. This isn’t something that we’ve never
done before,” White said. “He feels and we feel that he can be more
competitive there.”
As for Jones, White didn’t have any additional insight into the
former 205-pound king’s future. A move to heavyweight remains
imminent, but a timetable is still unclear.
“We’ve been talking to him through the whole thing,” White said. “When he’s ready to fight, he’ll let us know.” 
