Ray Cooper III explained

Ray Cooper III
Other Names:Bradda Boy
Birth Name:Raynald Cooper III
Birth Date:February 7, 1993
Birth Place:Pearl City, Hawaii, United States
Height:[1] [2] [3]
Weight:182lb
Weight Class:Middleweight (2023–present)
Welterweight (2016–2022)
Lightweight (2012–2016)
Reach:70 in [4]
Stance:Orthodox
Fighting Out Of:Pearl City, Hawaii, United States
Team:808 Fight Team
Lion of Judah
Years Active:2011–present
Mma Kowin:16
Mma Subwin:7
Mma Decwin:2
Mma Koloss:3
Mma Subloss:4
Mma Decloss:4
Mma Draw:1
Sherdog:108281

Raynald "Ray" Cooper III[5] (born February 7, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, Cooper is most notable for his time in the Professional Fighters League (PFL), where he is a two-time Welterweight champion.

Early life

Born and raised in Pearl City, Hawaii, Cooper got into many fights in the schoolyard, beginning to wrestle at the age of six and trained under the tutelage of his father, Ray Cooper Jr., a professional fighter.[6] [7] In Hawaii, Cooper was a three-time state champion wrestler and two-time Oahu Interscholastic Association champion, winning his last championship at 173 lbs. Upon graduating at the age of 18, he began his career in professional MMA,[8] turning down a college scholarship to continue wrestling.[9] [10] [11] Starting to train with his uncles Ronald Jhun and David “Kawika” Pa’aluhi, also fellow former fighters, and his father, Cooper was the first Cooper sibling, 6 of them in total, to skip college.[12] [13]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Cooper began competing as an amateur in 2011, compiling a record of 3-0 before turning professional in 2012. He competed in promotions King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge, X-1 and PXC. He compiled a record of 13-5 before being signed by the Professional Fighters League.

Professional Fighters League

On July 5, 2018, Cooper made his PFL debut at PFL 3 defeating former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Jake Shields via technical knockout in the second round.[14]

On August 16, 2018, Cooper defeated Pavel Kusch at PFL 6 in 18 seconds of the first round advancing to the playoffs.[15]

On October 20, 2018, Cooper faced Jake Shields in a rematch at PFL 10.[16] He won the fight via technical knockout in the first round to advance to the semifinals of the playoffs. In the semifinals, Cooper defeated Handesson Ferreira in a rematch via technical knockout to advance to the Welterweight finals.[17]

Cooper faced Magomed Magomedkerimov in the finals at PFL 11 on December 31, 2018. Cooper lost the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the second round. Cooper said of the fight, “I left my neck out too much. I thought I was winning that fight, you know, I was pressing the action. I just left my neck out. He has some slick guillotines, he has some long arms."[15]

Cooper re-entered the welterweight tournament in 2019, facing his cousin, Zane Kamaka on May 9, 2019 at PFL 1. He won the bout via rear-naked choke in the second round.[18]

On July 11, 2019 at PFL 4, he faced John Howard, losing the bout after getting knocked out in the first round.[19]

He faced Sadibou Sy in the quarterfinals at PFL 7 on October 11, 2019. The fight ended in a draw with Cooper advancing. In the semifinals at the same event, he faced Chris Curtis and won by knockout in the second round.[20] Cooper faced David Michaud in the finals at PFL 10 on December 31, 2019. He won the fight via TKO in the second round to win the 2019 PFL Welterweight Tournament.[21]

Cooper faced Jason Ponet on April 29, 2021 at PFL 2 as the start of the 2021 PFL Welterweight tournament.[22] He won the bout with an arm-triangle choke in the first round.[23]

Cooper faced Nikolay Aleksakhin at PFL 5 on June 17, 2021.[24] He won the bout via unanimous decision.[25]

Cooper faced Rory MacDonald in the Semifinals off the Welterweight tournament on August 13, 2021 at PFL 7.[26] He won the bout via unanimous decision.[27]

Cooper rematched Magomed Magomedkerimov in the Finals of the Welterweight tournament on 27 October 2021 at PFL 10.[28] Cooper had previously faced Magomedkerimov in the finals of the 2018 tournament, losing the bout via guillotine in the second round. He won the bout this time tho via knockout in the third round, winning the 2021 PFL Welterweight Tournament and another $1 million dollar prize.[29]

Cooper was scheduled to face Magomed Umalatov on May 6, 2022 at PFL 3.[30] Umalatov would pull out of the bout and be replaced by former LFA Welterweight Champion Carlos Leal.[31] At weigh-ins, Ray Cooper III missed weight for the bouts, weighing in at 176.4 pounds, 5.4 pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit.He was fined 20 percent of their purses, ineligible to win playoff points, given a walkover loss, and was penalized one point in the standings[32] In an upset, Cooper lost the bout via unanimous decision.[33]

Cooper faced Brett Cooper on July 1, 2022 at PFL 6.[34] He won the bout via TKO stoppage 24 seconds into the bout.[35]

Cooper made his middleweight debut against Derek Brunson on November 24, 2023 at PFL 10.[36] At weigh-ins, Cooper came in at 186.8 pounds, .8 pounds over the limit, leading him to being fined a percentage of his purse which went to Brunson and the bout was held at a catchweight.[37] Cooper lost the fight by unanimous decision.[38]

Returning to welterweight, Cooper replaced PFL welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov to face Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson in a 182 pound catchweight bout at PFL vs. Bellator on February 24, 2024.[39] He lost the bout by technical knockout in the second round.[40]

Cooper faced Mukhamed Berkhamov on August 23, 2024 at PFL 9.[41] He lost the fight via split decision.

Personal life

Cooper has four younger brothers; Bronson, Blake, Baylen and Makoa. All won wrestling state titles as well, with Blake, now a mixed martial artist, winning three. Both Blake and Baylen wrestled for Warner Pacific University where they were NAIA national champions and All-Americans. He also has a younger sister named Makana who is currently competing in the Hawaii High School Girls Wrestling division.[42] Even Cooper's wife is a former high school state wrestling champion.

Cooper and his wife Kelly have five children, with his last two children being twins.[43] [44]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

|-|Loss|align=center|25–11–1|Mukhamed Berkhamov|Decision (split)|PFL 9 (2024)||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Washington, D.C., United States ||-|Loss|align=center||Jason Jackson|TKO (leg kick and punches)|PFL vs. Bellator||align=center|2|align=center|0:23|Riyadh, Saudi Arabia||-|Loss|align=center|25–9–1|Derek Brunson|Decision (unanimous)|PFL 10 (2023)||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Washington, D.C., United States||-|Win|align=center|25–8–1|Brett Cooper|TKO (knees and punches)|PFL 6 (2022)||align=center|1|align=center|0:24|Atlanta, Georgia, United States||-|Loss|align=center|24–8–1|Carlos Leal|Decision (unanimous) |PFL 3 (2022)||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Arlington, Texas, United States||-|Win|align=center|24–7–1|Magomed Magomedkerimov|KO (punches)|PFL 10 (2021) ||align=center|3|align=center|3:02|Hollywood, Florida, United States||-|Win|align=center|23–7–1|Rory MacDonald|Decision (unanimous)|PFL 7 (2021) ||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Hollywood, Florida, United States||-| Win|align=center|22–7–1|Nikolay Aleksakhin |Decision (unanimous)|PFL 5 (2021) ||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States||-|Win|align=center|21–7–1|Jason Ponet| Submission (arm-triangle choke)| PFL 2 (2021)| | align=center| 1| align=center| 1:23| Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States||-|Win|align=center|20–7–1|David Michaud|TKO (punches)|PFL 10 (2019)||align=center|2|align=center|2:56|New York City, New York, United States||-|Win|align=center|19–7–1|Chris Curtis|KO (punch)|rowspan=2 | PFL 7 (2019)|rowspan=2 | |align=center| 2|align=center| 0:11|rowspan=2 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States||-|Draw|align=center||Sadibou Sy|Draw (unanimous)|align=center| 2|align=center| 5:00||-| Loss| align=center|18–7| John Howard| KO (punches)| PFL 4 (2019)| | align=center| 1 | align=center| 3:23| Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States| |-| Win| align=center|18–6| Zane Kamaka| Submission (rear-naked choke)| PFL 1 (2019)| | align=center| 2 | align=center| 4:29| Uniondale, New York, United States| |-|Loss|align=center|17–6|Magomed Magomedkerimov|Submission (guillotine choke)|PFL 11 (2018)||align=center|2|align=center|2:18|New York City, New York, United States ||- |Win|align=center|17–5|Handesson Ferreira|TKO (punches)| rowspan=2 |PFL 10 (2018)| rowspan=2 ||align=center|1|align=center|2:28| rowspan=2 |Washington, D.C., United States||- |Win|align=center|16–5|Jake Shields|TKO (punches)|align=center|1|align=center|3:10||- |Win|align=center|15–5|Pavel Kusch|TKO (punches)|PFL 6 (2018)||align=center|1|align=center|0:18|Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States||- |Win|align=center|14–5|Jake Shields|TKO (punches)|PFL 3 (2018)||align=center|2|align=center|2:09|Washington, D.C., United States||-|Loss|align=center|13–5|Handesson Ferreira|Decision (unanimous)|Mid-Pacific Championships 5||align=center|3|align=center|5:00|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|13–4|Charles Bennett|TKO (punches)|X-1 48: Braddah vs. Felony||align=center|2|align=center|2:48|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|12–4|Jonathan Pico|Submission (rear naked choke)|X-1 46: Armed and Dangerous||align=center|1|align=center|3:16|Kahului, Hawaii, United States||-|Loss|align=center|11–4|Park Jun-yong|Submission (anaconda choke)|Pacific Xtreme Combat 56||align=center|1|align=center|N/A|Hagåtña, Guam||-|Win|align=center|11–3|Matthew Colquhoun|KO (punch)|X-1 45: Live||align=center|1|align=center|0:04|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|10–3|Zach Conn|KO (punches)|X-1 44: The Return||align=center|1|align=center|0:12|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|9–3|Gabe Rivas|KO (punches)|Star Elite Cage Fighting||align=center|1|align=center|1:41|Waipahu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|8–3|Josh Drake|Submission (front choke)|Gladiator Challenge: Season's Beatings||align=center|1|align=center|1:06|Rancho Mirage, California, United States||-|Win|align=center|7–3|Adrian Bartree|KO (punch)|Gladiator Challenge: Showdown||align=center|1|align=center|0:34|Rancho Mirage, California, United States||-|Win|align=center|6–3|David Douglas|TKO (punches)|Star Elite Cage Fighting||align=center|1|align=center|0:27|Waipahu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|5–3|Dave Mazany|Submission (rear-naked choke)|Star Elite Cage Fighting||align=center|2|align=center|1:24|Waipahu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|4–3|Jody Carter|TKO (punches)|Gladiator Challenge: Season's Beatings||align=center|1|align=center|1:58|Rancho Mirage, California, United States||-|Loss|align=center|3–3|Craig Jackson|TKO (strikes)|War On The Valley Isle 3||align=center|1|align=center|2:25|Kahului, Hawaii, United States||-|Loss|align=center|3–2|Danny Navarro|Submission (guillotine choke)|Gladiator Challenge: Payback||align=center|1|align=center|1:34|San Jacinto, California, United States||-|Win|align=center|3–1|Nate Harris|Submission (guillotine choke)|Destiny MMA: Na Koa 5||align=center|1|align=center|2:52|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States||-|Loss|align=center|2–1|Joey Gomez|Technical Submission (rear-naked choke)|Destiny MMA: Na Koa 3||align=center|1|align=center|2:21|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|2–0|Adam Smith|Submission (rear-naked choke)|Destiny MMA: Na Koa 2||align=center|1|align=center|4:41|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States||-|Win|align=center|1–0|Kani Correa|KO (punch)|KOTC Ali'is||align=center|1|align=center|0:08|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States|

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ray Cooper III (Welterweight) MMA Profile .
  2. Web site: Ray Cooper III ("Bradda Boy") | MMA Fighter Page .
  3. Web site: PFL .
  4. Web site: Ray Cooper III . www.pflmma.com.
  5. Web site: Ray Cooper III fighter profile.
  6. Web site: 2021-10-28 . Ray Cooper's stunning KO earns the Pearl City alum $1 million . 2022-05-20 . Honolulu Star-Advertiser . en-US.
  7. Web site: Taylor . Tom . Why Fighting Is the Ultimate Prize for PFL's Ray Cooper III . 2022-09-06 . Bleacher Report . en.
  8. Web site: Ray Cooper III: Family Ties and Unimaginable Highs . Sherdog.
  9. Web site: 2018-06-01 . Ray Cooper III seeks redemption in PFL, 14 years after Jake Shields defeated his father . 2022-09-06 . KHON2 . en-US.
  10. Web site: 2020-01-22 . Feelin' Like A Million Bucks . 2022-09-06 . MidWeek . en-US.
  11. Web site: 2020-04-11 . Training with family at home daily, life is normal for Ray Cooper III . 2022-09-06 . FanSided . en-US.
  12. News: Gross . Josh . With 1 more victory, Ray Cooper III could top his dad's biggest MMA payday by $993,000 . 2022-09-06 . The Athletic . 18 October 2019 . en.
  13. Web site: Billy . Hull . 2018-12-29 . Ray Cooper III's lifetime of training with family leads to shot at big payoff . 2022-09-06 . Honolulu Star-Advertiser . en-US.
  14. Web site: PFL 3 results: Ray Cooper III rolls over Jake Shields in main event. 5 July 2018 .
  15. Web site: Ray Cooper III Interview: PFL, Magomedkerimov Rematch, Standin' and Bangin' - the Fight Library . 30 May 2019 .
  16. Web site: PFL 10 preview: Cooper III vs. Shields rematch among playoff fights in Washington DC.
  17. Web site: Ray Cooper III Blows Away Jake-Shields, Handesson Ferreira in PFL Welterweight Playoffs.
  18. Web site: Cooper III submits Kamaka in PFL welterweight showdown . 2022-09-13 . Hawaii News Now . 10 May 2019 . en.
  19. Web site: Anderson . Jay . 2019-07-11 . PFL 4 2019 Results: John Howard Scores Highlight Reel TKO of Ray Cooper III . 2022-09-13 . Cageside Press . en-US.
  20. Web site: Nick Baldwin . October 12, 2019 . Chris Curtis retires twice in one night after PFL 7 losses . bloodyelbow.com.
  21. Web site: Fight Card - 2019 PFL 10. PFL.
  22. Web site: Rory MacDonald faces David Michaud in PFL debut as welterweights, light heavyweights begin season on April 29. Damon Martin. MMAFighting.com. March 2, 2021. March 2, 2021.
  23. Web site: Marrocco. Steven. 2021-04-29. PFL 2 results: Rory MacDonald tricks Curtis Millender, gets first-round tapout. 2021-04-30. MMA Fighting. en.
  24. Web site: 2021-05-19. Rory MacDonald vs. Gleison Tibau headlines PFL 5 main card with welterweights and light heavyweights. 2021-05-20. MMA Fighting. en.
  25. Web site: 2021-06-17. PFL 5: Rory MacDonald, Ray Cooper III, Emiliano Sordi secure playoff spots. 2021-06-18. ESPN.com. en.
  26. Web site: 2021-07-20. PFL playoff cards announced with first event kicking off Aug. 13 with Rory MacDonald vs. Ray Cooper in main event. 2021-07-20. MMA Fighting. en.
  27. Web site: Anderson. Jay. 2021-08-14. PFL Playoffs 1: Ray Cooper III Decisions Rory MacDonald, Heads to Finals. 2021-08-14. Cageside Press. en-US.
  28. Web site: Alexander. Mookie. 2021-08-28. Here are the six tournament finals for the PFL 2021 season finale. 2021-09-27. Bloody Elbow. en.
  29. Web site: Anderson. Jay. 2021-10-27. PFL Championship 2021 Results: Ray Cooper III Exacts His Revenge Against Magomed Magomedkerimov. 2021-10-28. Cageside Press. en-US.
  30. Web site: 2022-04-05 . Kayla Harrison, Anthony Pettis and Rory MacDonald headline PFL 3 card on May 6 . 2022-04-05 . MMA Fighting . en.
  31. Web site: 2022-04-30 . Магомед Умалатов выбывает с поединка против чемпиона PFL . 2022-05-02 . mma.metaratings.ru . ru.
  32. Web site: 2022-05-07 . 2022 PFL 3 results: Carlos Leal dominates, snaps Ray Cooper III's lengthy winning streak . 2022-07-02 . MMA Junkie . en-US.
  33. Web site: Anderson . Jay . 2022-05-06 . PFL 3: Carlos Leal Pulls Off Upset Despite Late Surge by Ray Cooper III . 2022-07-02 . Cageside Press . en-US.
  34. Web site: 2022-06-01 . Harrison gets toughest test yet vs. Budd at PFL 6 . 2022-06-01 . ESPN.com . en.
  35. Web site: King . Nolan . 2022-07-02 . 2022 PFL 6 results: Ray Cooper III gets eliminated from playoff contention, destroys Brett Cooper in 24 seconds anyway . 2022-07-02 . MMA Junkie . en-US.
  36. Web site: 2023-10-06 . Brunson joins PFL, to fight Cooper III on Nov. 24 . 2023-10-06 . ESPN.com . en.
  37. Web site: Sherdog.com . 2023 Season PFL Championships Weigh-in Results: Wade vs. Jenkins 3 Scratched . 2023-11-24 . Sherdog . en.
  38. Web site: Dewar . Val . 2023-11-25 . Derek Brunson Wrestles, Ground and Pounds Ray Cooper III to Comfortable Decision at 2023 PFL Championship . 2023-11-26 . Cageside Press . en-US.
  39. Web site: Ray Cooper III replaces Magomed Magomedkerimov at PFL vs. Bellator event, faces Jason Jackson. MMA Junkie. Nolan King. 2024-01-22. 2024-01-22.
  40. Web site: Dewar . Val . 2024-02-24 . PFL vs. Bellator: Jason Jackson TKOs Weakened Ray Cooper III, Calls Out Doumbe . 2024-02-25 . Cageside Press . en-US.
  41. Web site: Cruz . Guilherme . 2024-07-17 . PFL announces new matchups, playoff alternates for August cards . 2024-08-05 . MMA Fighting . en.
  42. Web site: Cooper Bros. Bring Home Titles from CCC Championships. Warner Pacific University Athletics. 17 February 2018 .
  43. Web site: Ray Cooper III staying ready to fight in PFL again, looks back at his wins over Jake Shields. Mick Hammond. mmaweekly.com. May 29, 2020.
  44. Web site: 2020-04-15 . With 'stay at home order' life remains the same for PFL champ Ray Cooper III and his growing 'ohana . 2022-07-20 . KHON2 . en-US.

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