It looks like MMA fighter Will Brooks and Bellator are starting to have some bad blood against each other.
In a recent interview, MMA veteran Brooks revealed that he felt the Bellator executives were preferring to put new talents inside the cage instead of the veteran MMA fighters, who are have been in the MMA industry longer. Brooks further said that he is planning to fight out his contract with the said company, which probably is the reason why Bellator isn’t using him properly.
Last Thursday, Scott Coker, the president of Bellator MMA, has revealed that he didn’t see the actual tweets which Brooks made. He isn’t bothered by the shots made either.
“This is how it works. Fighters are happy until they’re not happy. Right now, he’s not happy. That could change. I don’t take it personally. It’s just part of the business. If he’s gonna yap, he’s gonna yap. That’s just how it is,” Coker said.
Brooks, who has a record of 17-1, has an impressive record with eight straight victories. He was able to hold onto his Bellator title since he won over Michael Chandler by split decision last May 2014. However, ever since Scott Coker took over Bellator two years ago, Brooks has been openly critical of how things were running in the promotion. Chandler, on the other hand, reacted to what Brooks said and blasted him during The MMA Hour last Monday.
“He’s the epitome of a bad employee, just constantly trashing the promotion, constantly questioning the decisions people make in it, and constantly, quite frankly, whining. You know, ‘I’m this, I’m that — why’s he getting this, why’s he getting that?’,” Chandler said.
Coker, on the other hand, stayed on the safer side of the issue and was diplomatic when asked about Brooks plans to fight out his contract and explore the MMA market.
“I think he’s a good fighter. I think we’ll offer him some more fights and we’ll fight him out. Then, we’ll see. Free agency is gonna work both ways. Is he a fighter that we would go way out of our way to re-sign? I can’t answer that,” Coker said.
Brooks fought Marcin Held last Bellator 145 in November, which apparently, was the final and huge event of the year. However, he hasn’t been booked any bouts this 2016 yet. Both Josh Thomson and Chandler, who are well-known in the MMA industry, has openly admitted that they would rather fight each other than face Brooks inside the cage, because they feel that going against Brooks wouldn’t make as much noise.
This situation in this particular weight division would be dealt with some other time though. Coker said that he would need to focus first on the upcoming event this coming February 19th in Houston. Bellator 149 will have MMA legends Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie as the main card of the night. Coker also revealed that he hasn’t spoken to Brooks recently.
“The only thing on my mind right now is Gracie vs. Shamrock,” he said.