Bellator President Scott Coker has something in mind for former UFC light heavyweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell – but it might not be what you think.
Coker on Thursday told MMAjunkie that the two recently talked over lunch in Los Angeles. But Coker pitched Liddell on working for Bellator as a “brand ambassador,” rather than as a fighter.
Liddell has hinted about making a comeback now that he’s no longer working for the UFC, and Coker previously said he’d at least hear out “The Iceman,” even if a comeback might be jeopardized by the industry leader’s standard retirement clause, which unfreezes a contract after a fighter decides to come back.
Several UFC Hall of Famers have taken the Bellator job, signing autographs at fan events in advance of fight cards. In 2014, Royce Gracie joined up as a brand ambassador to meet fans, hold seminars and do promotional appearances.
Liddell would add some major star power to the Viacom-owned promotion. He remains of the UFC’s strongest draws outside the cage, with fans frequently lining up in droves to get an autograph or picture. That might give the UFC pause about allowing him to lend his image to a competitor; Wanderlei Silva was blocked from participating in a Bellator fan event in 2014 before he was released from his UFC contract.
But the million dollar question is whether Liddell, who was let go as the UFC’s vice president of business development in the wake of company-wide layoffs, has the freedom to pursue such ventures. Coker said he has no intel on that front, and MMAjunkie wasn’t immediately able to reach Liddell’s reps.
Stay tuned.
Bellator chief Scott Coker did lunch with former UFC champ Chuck Liddell
