Scott Coker believes Bellator has superior light heavyweight division to UFC

Bellator president Scott Coker has gone on record saying he believes Bellator has a superior light heavyweight division to the UFC.

Coker and Bellator recently signed top-five light heavyweight Corey Anderson to a big-money free-agent deal, strengthening the division. Bellator light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader fights this Friday at Bellator 244 against top contender Vadim Nemkov, in what is an excellent matchup for the belt. Other light heavyweights in the promotion include Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis, who face each other in a rematch in September.

Speaking with MMAjunkie.com before Bader’s title defense against Nemkov, Coker boasted about his promotion’s talented light heavyweight division.

“Listen, with Jon Jones moving up to heavyweight, I think we have the best 205-pound weight class on the planet with Bader, Gegard wants to move up, we have (Lyoto) Machida, and we have Corey Anderson now,” Coker said.

“We have a bunch of killers in that weight class. To me, we have a great roster of fights for him (Corey Anderson) – and even Phil Davis. I mean, we’ll be able to put some great fights together, and I’m excited about that division.”

Coker made the comments in the wake of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones recently vacating his title. With Jones having vacated the belt, some have suggested this could be a rare instance in MMA history where the best 205lber in the world resides outside of the UFC. That would be Bader, who has been unbeatable since arriving in Bellator.

Coker suggesting that Bellator has surpassed the UFC in terms of the light heavyweight division is not surprising given the rivalry between the promotions. But looking at things objectively, while Bellator does have some great fighters at the top of the division, so does the UFC and the UFC has far more depth overall, even without Jones in the fold.

Do you agree with Scott Coker that Bellator has a better light heavyweight division than the UFC?