Kevin Kay Courtesy of Michele Thomas The new MMA league of former Bellator boss and Strikeforce founder Scott Coker, backed with $60 million by a group of strategic investors across sports, media, technology and finance, has unveiled its leadership team.
Kevin Kay, the former president of Paramount Network, CMT, Spike TV and TV Land, has been named the league’s chief content officer.
Other top executives that the new MMA player unveiled on Tuesday are Tom Fox, who will serve as chief operating officer after previous work for Gatorade, NBA Properties and Arsenal FC, executive vp, athlete relations Rich Chou, formerly of Strikeforce and Bellator MMA), Paolo Boccotti, executive vp, European production & operations, who has worked for Fight Code and Bellator in the past, Lawrence Stuart, executive vp, media rights & business development, who is a former CMP, Screenz and ICM Partners executive, and former Showtime Sports press lead Chris DeBlasio, who will serve as executive vp, global head of communications.
“We have assembled a team of premium sports leaders who share our values and respect for combat sports,” said Coker. “Tom, Kevin, Rich, Paolo, Lawrence and Chris each bring world-class experience and the industry relationships needed to drive MMA forward, while always honoring its roots, the athletes and the fans who supported this sport from the beginning. Collectively, we see where the sport can go, and we also know where it comes from.”
Kay developed and launched such hit content as Lip Sync Battle and Yellowstone and was instrumental in building the UFC’s TV presence by bringing it to Spike TV. There, he greenlit the reality hit The Ultimate Fighter, which ran for 14 seasons. Kay’s push into MMA also led Viacom to acquire promotion Bellator, where he first worked with Coker.
Coker serves as co-founder and CEO of the still unnamed mixed martial arts venture, whose debut is planned for early 2027. Peter Levin of Griffin Gaming Partners serves as co-founder and chairman of the board. The company’s advisory group includes the likes of ex-TelevisaUnivision CEO and ex-Viacom CFO Wade Davis and former Sony Pictures Television chairman Steve Mosko.
Coker’s track record includes discovering and developing the careers of such MMA legends as Daniel Cormier, Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. When UFC moved from Spike FC to Fox and Viacom struck its deal for Bellator, Kay reached out to meet Coker. “We got together in Los Angeles and had a cup of coffee that lasted probably three hours,” Kay recalls. “I realized right away that he was the right guy to run Bellator because of his success as a promoter and all of the other work that he’d done.” After a few more conversations, Kay convinced him. “He did an amazing job,” Kay tells The Hollywood Reporter. “His track record in mixed martial arts is just amazing. He built an amazing roster, told great stories and completely rebuilt the brand.”
Kay’s focus at the new MMA venture is his core expertise. “My background is really storytelling,” he tells THR. “That’s what I love. I’ve always felt that mixed martial arts is a great story, and the stories of fighters are great stories, but they’re not always being told in the right way.”
The new MMA league really wants to put them front and center. “Scott has incredible relationships with not just fighters, but the fighters’ representatives and the gyms,” explains Kay. “And he cares deeply about the athletes, because he is a black belt himself. He really respects and cares about these men and women and about making them successful in a way that transcends all the other promotions.”
A case in point that he mentions is that Strikeforce put 50 percent of its revenue back into its fighters. “What Scott’s good at is to spot these talents, build them, invest in them, and then to bring them into their prime,” shares Kay. And he will concentrate on helping to tell their stories. “You want audiences to get deeply and emotionally involved with these fighters in a way. My role is really about this storytelling, content around the athletes and connecting the athletes to the audience.”
That means digging deeper and showing more than just the superficial excitement. “No offense to anybody, but I feel it’s gotten to a point where the way that fights are promoted is having weigh-ins, and the fighters yell at each other, and they push and shove, and maybe a fight breaks out,” Kay tells THR. “Sure, that’s exciting for the fans, but a lot of these men and women have very interesting stories around their lives and around how they became fighters and mixed martial artists and why. But those stories aren’t being told.”
Kay wants to do just that. “Really telling the stories of their personal journeys is important to me, as well as developing really compelling narratives around the fighters and the fights that they’re about to enter into,” he emphasizes, predicting an appealing mix of established names and newer talent.
His content role will mean working with every department inside the new MMA company. “Scott is a master of putting fans in seats and getting them to watch these fights on TV,” he shares. “And one of the reasons that I agreed to do this is because I love the team he is building.”
Additional details, including the league name, its structure and format, the regions of the world where fights will take place, athlete participation, as well as streaming and/or TV distribution and event schedules, are expected to be revealed over time. Given Coker’s track record and the desire to build attention for the new MMA league and its fighters, tournaments are expected to play a key role. And the appointment of Boccotti confirms that Europe will be a key region for the new promotion.
“At its core, the new promotion is designed to expand opportunities for world-class fighters, strengthen the global MMA community and deliver a fresh international product for fans while honoring the gyms, coaches, athletes, and local fight cultures that fuel the sport’s growth,” the venture said on Tuesday. “As the league moves toward launch, its mission remains focused on building a global MMA platform rooted in martial arts tradition, connected to athletes and fans, and committed to creating meaningful opportunities for fighters around the world.”
Kay has an idea what his early content focus will be: short-form. “Long-form [content] gets expensive, and it’s a big bet, and I don’t know that the audience needs it,” he tells THR. He also has “some ideas about some longer-form stuff, but relatively inexpensive things,” says Kay. “We should be spending money on the fights and the fighters, so I don’t want to get into long-form series just yet. I think that’s a goal further down the line.”
After all, “so many mixed martial arts fans have grown up on social media platforms,” Kay concludes. “They’re used to bite-sized stuff. That’s something that we did with Bellator really well. The social stuff was great. I think that’s where we will start.”
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