Seven years ago, a heavyweight by the name of Daniel Cormier made his professional fighting debut on a Strikeforce Challengers event in Bixby, Oklahoma.Early in the broadcast, commentators relayed a story about Cormiers manager, Bob Cook, literally laughing at his fighters attempts to throw kicks in the gym -- his skills were that raw.What Cormier had going for him, however, was an Olympic-caliber wrestling background. Within three years of that debut, Cormier had won the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament. Today, hes a UFC champion and one of the most recognizable stars in a sport that is constantly in search of them.And it all started with then-Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker signing a heavyweight with no experience.When we signed him, Daniel really had no skill in mixed martial arts other than wrestling, Coker chuckled. But he turned into a phenomenal fighter. When you look at the disciplines of this sport, if you have a good wrestling background, youre usually at a pretty decent advantage.Coker, now the president of Bellator MMA, is quietly applying the same strategy he used to find Cormier to his current promotion.Bellator has made a big splash with several free-agent signings in recent years, which include established names like Chael Sonnen, Rory MacDonald, Benson Henderson and Phil Davis. But in addition, the company has also invested in five standout amateur wrestlers who have never professionally competed in MMA.We call them the Fab Five, Coker said.Their names are Aaron Pico, Ed Ruth, Tyrel Fortune, Jarod Trice and Joey Davis. The first four attempted to qualify for the 2016 U.S. Olympic wrestling team, each falling just short at trials. Davis, an undefeated four-time NCAA Division II national wrestling champion, made his MMA debut for Bellator in August. He won by unanimous decision.Ruth, 26, is scheduled to make his debut on Friday at Bellator 163 in Uncasville, Connecticut. Hes a former three-time NCAA Division I champion at Penn State and trains out of MMA veteran Josh Koschecks gym in Fresno, California. Hes also represented by Zinkin Entertainment -- the same management group of Cormier.Whether or not Ruth, a middleweight, comes close to duplicating Cormiers success no one knows. But as he was with Cormier, Coker is in on the ground floor of his career. And in the business of MMA promotion, its always nice to hold a potential lotto ticket.I feel like the sky is the limit in this sport, Ruth said. You look at Conor McGregor, and Im not gonna lie, I love that guy. He was confident, knew how to talk and now hes making lots of money. I feel like every fighter comes into this sport thinking they can make astronomical amounts of money, and I feel the same. I feel my chances are great, given that Ive already done the hard work Im going to put in.Scott has a good relationship with my management team, and I really couldnt go wrong with Bellator. They are putting me in a position where I can take off.Fortune, a heavyweight and close friend of Ruths, also makes his debut at Bellator 163. His involvement in MMA began when he flew to South Florida to help former UFC champion Rashad Evans prepare for a fight. Bellator moved quick in signing Fortune, as he agreed to a deal with the promotion within a few weeks of Ruth introducing him to some of its executives.Even though Fortune has no record, he has already been courted by fight camps and promotions. He now trains out of Arizona but says his confidence grew during his time with the Blackzilians in Florida.Guys like [striking coach] Henri Hooft pulled me aside and said, Listen, I really think you have endless potential to be a champion in this sport if thats what you want, Fortune said. Hearing it from guys like that -- [UFC light heavyweight] Anthony Johnson, Rashad, [grappling coach] Neil Melanson -- I fell in love with it right away.One of the first things Rashad did was say, OK, wait, we have to make sure you have a chin, first. There are some people who, for whatever genetic reason, cant take a punch. So, he hit me in the face, kind of by surprise, and I took it OK. Thats when he said, OK, you got a future in this sport!Neither Ruth nor Fortune is scheduled to appear on the televised main card this weekend, which is by Bellator design. Coker said he wanted to book both to a real fight but spare them the additional pressure of fighting on live television. Both fighters understood the decision and said its in line with the relationship theyve had with Bellator to this point.When Ed was telling me about signing with Bellator and what they had to offer, he said, Theyre not throwing us to the wolves, Fortune said. Its very personal. Theyre not looking at us as an assembly line of athletes coming through the organization. I have a relationship with this promotion.Since Coker took over as Bellators president in 2014, the promotion has faced its share of criticism for circus fights, mostly those involving retired greats who are past their prime or a heavyweight bout between the late Kimbo Slice and Dhafir Dada 5000 Harris in February.But two years in, Cokers imprint on Bellators roster is finally taking shape and a focus on amateur wrestlers is proving to be a major piece of it. Time will tell if it produces another Cormier.I always feel the roster has to be built from the ground up and the top down, Coker said. Ten years ago with Strikeforce, there were more free agents floating around. We signed Fedor Emelianenko, [Antonio] Bigfoot Silva, Fabricio Werdum -- now free agents are few and far between, but were signing our share of them, as youve seen.We also have to build from the ground up, and thats how we built Strikeforce, and I think were doing that here with the wrestling group weve brought in. Air Max 97 Rosa . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. Air Max 90 Nere Pelle Offerte . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. 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As an expansion club full of young and impressionable talent, Greater Western Sydney didnt want to just hire an AFL coach when Mark Williams left in 2012.The panel charged with selecting Kevin Sheedys successor wanted someone who cared.About winning a premiership, yes.But also about the welfare of a disparate group of players pulled together from around Australia, many of which were unsure whether to stay after a maiden season of lopsided losses.They settled on Leon Cameron, who famously started his interview presentation by talking values instead of tactics.Cameron possessed an innate ability to read the game in a 256-match playing career.He was also somebody at quarter-time or halftime who would say - right, this is whats going on and this is what we need to do, GWS football manager Wayne Campbell said of his former Richmond teammate.Cameron also proved to have an astute football brain as an assistant coach at Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn.But what made him stand out from other talented applicants was his caring streak.Its been a feature of Camerons approach since his coaching career started as a 31-year-old assistant to Peter Rohde at the Bulldogs some 13 years ago.He always went that extra mile for people all the time. He just had a nurturing nature, Rohde recalled to AAP.We were pretty under-resourced at the Bulldogs at that stage, so everyone had to multitask.We had a part-time welfare person who did a couple of days a week ... Leon did a lot of the welfare and development stuff with younger players. He was very good at it.GWS co-captain Callan Ward is one of many players who can vouch for that.Ward first met Cameron at Whitten Oval, when he was a 17-year-old draftee who was preparing to juggle AFL commitments with his final year of high school.Id just come to the footy club after school and deal with him - he was my line coach. I was pretty close to him back then, Ward said shortly after Camerons appointment.I always knew he was a great coach. But more importantly hes a great person and thats what we need at the footy club.Cameron, who makes a habit of taking aan interest in his charges lives away from football, spent time learning the art of coaching under Rohde and Rodney Eade at Whitten Oval then Hawthorn guru Alastair Clarkson.ddddddddddddThe Bulldogs contemplated replacing Eade with Cameron in 2011 but instead appointed Brendan McCartney.Clarkson remained a big fan of Cameron, asking him to oversee much of the Hawks 2012 pre-season. Cameron was clearly ready for the hot seat and hit a fork in the road after helping Hawthorn reach the 2012 grand final.There was the prospect of picking up the pieces at Port Adelaide after the Powers miserable year or serving as Sheedys protege at GWS.We obviously identified him as a pretty good candidate, Rohde, Ports football manager at the time, said.We interviewed him a couple of times and we were very impressed. We knew he was going to be a very good coach.The problem was so did GWS and Cameron opted to shift to Sydney instead of Adelaide.It was a great decision and a wise decision to get Leon, Sheedy said this week.Cameron quickly made a big impact.In 2013 many of the GWS youngsters to re-sign attributed their decision to the fact Cameron was taking over.Its easy to opine success was inevitable for the Giants given the various list concessions handed out by the AFL.But the sorry state of Gold Coast suggests it is somewhat more complicated. The Suns joined the competition a year earlier and are yet to go close to a maiden finals berth, let alone sit one win away from their first grand final.There are a few key differences in terms of list strategies but club culture has also been key.Gold Coast have dealt with no shortage of miscreants and misdeeds, while GWS have been relatively scandal free with the exception of allegations levelled against Lachie Whitfield and two former staffers.Cameron has clearly helped build that culture and regardless of Saturdays result his appointment shapes as one of the Giants best recruiting decisions in their short existence. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys ' ' '