Bellator founder Bjorn Rebney ousted from company; Scott Coker in as president

It was an expected, but monumental changing of the guard Wednesday, as Bellator MMA founder, chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted ways with the organization, while former Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was quickly brought in as the new president.

President and COO Tim Danaher was also relieved of his duties.

"It is with bittersweet emotions that I announce that I am leaving the company I founded," Rebney said in a Viacom press release (via MMAFighting). "I have great pride in having turned my vision into reality, a thriving business with television distribution to over 140 countries around the world, a partnership with one of the world’s largest entertainment giants and wide array of sponsors, partners and strategic allies all over the globe. This has been a wonderful eight plus years of creation, development and success.  I will miss the courageous, strong and dedicated fighters I have had the pleasure of promoting, and equally, I will miss the incredibly hard working, remarkable team that has become a family for me over the years.

"Viacom and Tim and I differed in our views of the right strategic direction for Bellator, but Tim and I both wish them well."

Coker comes to Bellator with a wealth of combat sports/MMA experience, founding Strikeforce as a kickboxing organization in 1985 before making the transition to MMA in 2006. He slowly built the company into a solid secondary organization behind the UFC, and it was eventually sold to Zuffa in 2011.

“We are excited to have Scott Coker lead us in a new direction as we evolve the league format from a tournament-based organization to a more traditional model with big fights,” Spike TV president Kevin Kay said (via Sherdog).