Scott Coker setting up possible Strikeforce event in Japan

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has long discussed his desire to bring the organization into the land of the rising sun. And now, it seems like his dream can become reality.

Scott first put his foot in the world door of the mixed martial arts world when he was a protege of the famous Ernie Reyes, and later enjoyed a good relationship with ultra-popular K-1 organization, which has been a staple for both the kickboxing and mixed martial arts scene in Japan.

Now, Coker has recently been linked with representatives of the now defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships, in an effort to help navigate his way to bring MMA back where it belongs.

The CEO has stated several times in which he openly expressed to bring a Strikeforce fight card to Japan, specifically one leg of the inaugural heavyweight grand prix, which kicks off this February.

And who better to discuss the matters with then Sotaro Shinoda, who remains a representative for the company who co-produced the aforementioned PRID FC organization–according to MiddleEasy.com, which was made evident with a Tweeted photo between the CEO and rep.

While Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Silva, Andrei Arlovski, and Sergei Kharitonov are already a lock for the New Jersey show, which takes place on February 12 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, the remaining four-competitors could be finding their way to Japan, should things continue to go swimmingly.

Alistair Overeem, the current Strikeforce heavyweight champion, is currently in the ultra-popular eight-man GP and will be taking on top-heavyweight star Fabricio Werdum. Both men were fixtures in the PRIDE organization, which in it’s time was arguably the best promotion in the world and remains to be one of Japan’s favorite, most coveted sports. So naturally, bringing these two to say Nagoya, Saitama, or Tokyo would be huge for the sport–it’s also good to note that Josh Barnett will be meeting with Brett Rogers, whereas “The Babyfaced Assassin” is considered to be a legend in the Japanese realm due in large to his professional wrestling career coupled with his mixed martial arts legacy.

So, MMA peeps, what do you make of the news? Would you like to see Strikeforce take the show to Japan? If they can pull it off, it would be a big “eff you” to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which has since been unable to navigate through the foreign land, at least not since UFC 29 in December of 2000. Sound off in the comment section below.