Scott Coker & Rich Chou REVEAL ALL on NEW MMA Promotion Ki MMA, Competing w/ UFC, Tournament Details

For nearly two years, he told almost no one. Not his closest industry friends, not the people who kept asking if retirement was really sticking.

Behind closed doors, though, one of combat sports’ most respected promoters was quietly building something entirely new — a project so carefully guarded that even longtime collaborators only learned the full scope of it when they were personally invited into a private screening room to see it for themselves.

That secrecy, it turns out, was intentional. The team behind the new venture made a pact early on: no leaks, no hints, no sneak peeks to even their closest friends in the industry.

They wanted the entire reveal to land at once, with maximum impact, rather than trickle out through rumors and speculation.

When the unveiling finally happened, the reaction, by all accounts, was overwhelmingly positive — vindication after what one insider described as a deeply methodical, almost obsessively pressure-tested planning process that took the better part of a year and a half.

The concept itself is staggering in its ambition: a 32-fighter global tournament spanning four continents, built specifically around a single weight class chosen through detailed data analysis showing it holds the deepest well of untapped young talent anywhere in the sport.

The structure alone breaks new ground, with semifinal and championship bouts happening on the same card, under carefully negotiated round lengths designed to balance fighter safety with the demands of single-night, win-or-go-home competition.

Even the name carries deeper meaning than most would guess at first glance. Rather than another generic acronym cluttering an already crowded sports landscape, the founders chose a word rooted in martial arts philosophy, representing spiritual energy and life force — a deliberate departure from convention that, notably, wasn’t even influenced by any past ventures despite an eerie visual resemblance some noticed immediately.

Behind the excitement, though, lies real personal history and real scars. The lead architect openly reflected on the brutal ending of his last major promotional run, describing it candidly as soul-crushing and exhausting in a way that genuinely took a toll on him.

He also revisited, with striking candor, past allegations of corporate interference from a dominant rival organization — stories involving pressure campaigns aimed at star fighters, legal notices, and attempts to lure away talent mid-contract, tactics he says were simply part of surviving in an industry where one company towers over everyone else.

Financially, the new venture is positioning itself as a legitimate alternative for young prospects, dangling tournament prize money reportedly in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus performance bonuses, as an incentive to lure emerging talent away from bigger, more established organizations before they get locked into long-term deals elsewhere.

The pitch is straightforward: young, hungry fighters could realistically out-earn their early-career counterparts anywhere else in the sport.

There’s also a distribution deal still being finalized, with promising early conversations already underway with major platforms, though the team insists they’re prepared to launch their debut event regardless of whether an agreement is locked in beforehand.

A tentative early 2027 launch date is being targeted, with a significant portion of international venues already secured across multiple continents.

Perhaps most striking of all is the emotional tone surrounding the entire relaunch. Longtime colleagues have noticed a visible shift in energy from the promoter at the center of it all — a rejuvenated enthusiasm and joy that friends say they haven’t witnessed in years, following a stretch that had, by his own admission, worn him down completely.

For an industry veteran who once swore off the business entirely, the return isn’t just a career pivot.

It’s framed, in his own words, as something closer to a love letter — one final, deeply personal chapter he’s determined to get right.