Scott Coker is looking to differentiate his new promotion from the rest of the pack.

Last month, Coker officially unveiled Ki MMA, his new promotion that is planning to start putting on events in 2027.

It has previously been said that the former Bellator and Strikeforce boss is the only one who could give the UFC a run for their money if he gets the right backing.

The veteran promoter is already taking steps to make his latest venture stand out from the others by pushing for rule changes.

Scott Coker reveals plans to introduce knees to the head of a grounded opponent

On Tuesday, Scott Coker and Ki MMA posted a statement on social media to announce that they have formally requested a rule change.

The post states that as someone who has “always believed MMA should keep evolving”, Coker has asked the California State Athletic Commission to discuss this in December.

This pitch would result in a variation of the ruleset that is currently laid out in the Unified Rules of MMA.

While the statement doesn’t specifically mention what this is, it was inferred and reported by MMA Junkie that this revolves around knees to the head of a grounded opponent.

The likes of ONE Championship already have this rule, which provides another offensive option and prevents the awkward distinction between what counts as someone being grounded.

It is also clarified in the post that while Ki MMA wants to “bring elements of the Global MMA Rules into the Unified Rules”, this excludes soccer kicks, stomps, and linear knee strikes.

Paddy Pimblett advocated for the UFC to go one step further than this

Whether the UFC will follow suit in implementing this rule change if it is approved remains to be seen, though it does often get brought up as a change fans would like to see.

Paddy Pimblett previously advocated for this and soccer kicks to be brought back into the rules.

While ‘The Baddy’ doesn’t believe that stomps should be brought back into MMA, he believes you should be able to kick an opponent while they’re sitting in guard.

Pimblett said regarding knees to the head of a downed opponent that while he likes the changes that have been made, “it’s still a bit confusing”.