Following the recent in-cage (and seemingly scripted) scuffle between upcoming opponents Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar, Bellator MMA President Scott Coker has made a promise to fans: “We are not going into the pro wrestling business.”

Coker, the former Strikeforce head who took over Bellator in June, today spoke to MMAjunkie three days after Friday’s bizarre incident.

During a break in action at the Spike TV-televised Bellator 123 event in Connecticut, Coker entered the cage and announced Ortiz (17-11-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will fight fellow UFC vet Bonnar (15-8 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on Nov. 15 in Bellator 131’s headliner.

However, Bonnar then entered the cage with former Ortiz training partner Justin McCully (who was “unmasked”), and after trading insults, they briefly scuffled (check out the video above).

Was it scripted? And were Bellator and Spike TV in on it? Coker has heard the complaints, but he insists it’s not the case.

“No, no, no, that’s totally inaccurate information,” he told MMAjunkie. “Spike didn’t know, we didn’t know, and after the fight, I was sitting and watching Tito, and he was pissed off and mad for a good hour after that altercation. So as fake or as pro wrestling as it might seem, there’s some deep-seeded something going on over there. Really, I don’t even know what that’s about between McCully and Tito.

“To me, it’s like when Chael Sonnen does his wrestling bits. It’s very, ‘Now they’re going into the WWE business.’ It’s just how some of these guys choose to express themselves. I think Stephan had his script ready, but I don’t think Tito had his script ready because having Justin there threw him off. But at the end of the day, that’s something that happened one time. … But I’ll tell you this: The fight that’s going to happen in the cage on Nov. 15 is going to be real. All that stuff’s going to be put to the side, and they’re going to be locked in the cage, and they’re going to have to fight. But we are not going into the pro wrestling business. We’re not part of the TNA landscape, and we’re not part of Spike’s plan. It’s something that took us all by surprise.”

Coker said he even warned the fighters before they entered the cage not to do anything stupid. While he understands the need to promote a fight, he said he gave the fighters one directive.

“I told Tito, ‘Look, here’s the deal: (Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation Director Michael) Mazzulli’s here. You’re going to get fined. I’m going to get fined. Everybody’s going to get fined, so just don’t touch each other,'” he said. “I walked over to Stephan Bonnar, and as I was walking by, I see a guy with a mask. (I thought), ‘Who the heck is this guy?’ I was busy, but I went to Stephan, and I said, ‘We’re all going to get fined. You guys don’t like each other, but please don’t touch each other.'”

They obviously didn’t follow his mandate, though. After Bonnar’s apparently scripted insults, Ortiz accused both Bonnar and McCully of being “drug addicts.” He then charged Bonnar, which sparked the melee.

It all seemed a bit rehearsed to the casual observer. And Coker admitted that might have been the case with Bonnar and McCully, but he believes the reactions and emotion from Ortiz were real.

Coker plans to talk to Mazzulli later today to see if the commission will levy any fines. However, immediately after the fracas, the two fight executives had a brief discussion.

“He asked me, ‘Coker, what happened?’ And I’m like, ‘Mike, I swear, I did not know that was going to go down, and that’s the truth, on my father’s grave,'” Coker said. “I did not know that was going to go down. That’s not my style, and this is not something that we had pre-planned. I asked them, please, don’t touch each other. All I remember (during the brawl) was somebody spitting over my shoulder. I’m like, ‘Jesus, this is terrible.’

“It was bad, but it happened, and it is what it is. I understand why the fans are confused, but this is something that wasn’t pre-planned on our part. It was really between Tito and Stephan. What happens in the cage on the 15th, there’s not going to be any pro wrestling. It’s going to be a real fight.”

For more on Bellator 131, check out MMA Rumors section of the site.