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Coker "honored" by Walker's fight, plans meeting to discuss second Strikeforce scrap The opinions on 47-year-old former pro footballer Herschel Walker's recent MMA debut range from "amazing" to "disgraceful."
Count Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker among those who believe the Heisman Trophy winner was a good thing for the California-based promotion – even if he was admittedly unsure at first.
"I think the networks, at first, were apprehensive about Herschel, and so was I, honestly," Coker recently told MMAjunkie.com. "I was very apprehensive, but getting to know Herschel, and seeing his commitment to training at AKA and just who he is as a person and a martial artist, it was an honor to have him come fight for us."
Walker earned a third-round TKO over the unheralded Greg Nagy at January's "Strikeforce: Miami" event. While Walker appeared a bit stiff in the standup department, he was able to utilize his wrestling skills, fend off submission attempts, and ground-and-pound his way to victory.
Working with the famed American Kickboxing Academy camp in preparation for the fight, Walker by all accounts put in the work needed to make it in mixed martial arts.
Coker believes the fact that an accomplished athlete like Walker, even at such an advanced age, wants to be involved in MMA proves the sport is quickly growing in popularity.
"When you look at [Walker's] history and his past accomplishments, he's probably one of the top two athletes of the century in the world," Coker said. "When a guy like that says, 'I want to be involved in mixed martial arts,' what does that say about our sport? That's a great statement."
One thing is certain: Walker's presence did wonders for the profile of Strikeforce. While the performances of Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz and middleweight slugger Robbie Lawler were the most talked about action on the night, it was Walker who garnered mainstream attention in the weeks leading up to the fight.
With multiple appearances on ESPN and appointments on a host of television and radio programs, Walker served as an ambassador for both Strikeforce and MMA – a role he handled quite well, indeed.
Coker said the attention was invaluable – and maybe even historic.
"You saw all the mainstream press that Herschel was able to deliver," Coker said. "It was probably more than Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz combined in the history of their careers.
"I don't think I've ever seen that kind of media surge for any fighter in the history of MMA that Herschel Walker delivered for our Strikeforce fight."
Much of the talk surrounding another appearance by Walker has centered around a potential matchup with former baseball star Jose Canseco. Thus far, Coker hasn't expressed much interest in making that fight, but that doesn't mean Walker won't be in the Strikeforce cage again soon.
"He's is a great guy, and we'll probably have a conversation with Herschel in the next couple weeks," Coker said. "We already had a brief conversation, and he's very happy with doing it – not just fighting, but he's like, 'I can't wait to get back and start training.' He wants to start training again."Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/18255/coker-h ... -scrap.mma
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