Raynald "Ray" Cooper III (born February 7, 1993) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

currently competing in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

division of the

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promo ...

(PFL), where he is the two-time Welterweight champion. A professional competitor since 2012, he has also competed for

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

Fight Matrix Fight Matrix , MMA Rankings, Records, Statistics is an independent, comprehensive, mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter ranking system portal. It is one of the sport's most recognized ranking websites. According to FightMatrix: "The rankings on thi ...

had him ranked a top 10 Welterweight in the world in May 2022. He is currently ranked #16.

Early life

Born and raised in

Pearl City Pearl City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District and City & County of Honolulu on the Island of Oahu. As of the 2010 Census, the CDP had a total population of 47,698. Pearl City is located ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, 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. In Hawaii, Cooper was a three-time state champion wrestler and two-time

Oahu Interscholastic Association The Oahu Interscholastic Association (OIA) is an athletic conference composed of all public secondary schools on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.A. The OIA was first founded in 1940 as the Rural Oahu Interscholastic Association (ROIA). The five ...

champion, winning his last championship at 173 lbs. Upon graduating at the age of 18, he began his career in professional MMA, turning down a college scholarship to continue wrestling. Starting to train with his uncles Ron 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.

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

On July 5, 2018, Cooper made his PFL debut at PFL 3 defeating former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion

Jake Shields Jake Sequoyah Shields (born January 9, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and submission grappler. He was the last Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Champion, the only Elite XC Welterweight Champion, a former Shooto Welterweight ...

via technical knockout in the second round. On August 16, 2018, Cooper defeated Pavel Kusch at PFL 6 in 18 seconds of the first round advancing to the playoffs. On October 20, 2018, Cooper faced

in a rematch at PFL 10. 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. 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." 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. On July 11, 2019 at PFL 4, he faced

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

, losing the bout after getting knocked out in the first round. 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. Cooper faced

David Michaud David Michaud (born November 10, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, he formerly competed for the Professional Fighters League, Legacy Fight ...

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. Cooper faced Jason Ponet on April 29, 2021 at PFL 2 as the start of the 2021 PFL Welterweight tournament. He won the bout with an arm-triangle choke in the first round. Cooper faced Nikolay Aleksakhin at PFL 5 on June 17, 2021. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Cooper faced Rory MacDonald in the Semifinals off the Welterweight tournament on August 13, 2021 at PFL 7. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Cooper rematched Magomed Magomedkerimov in the Finals of the Welterweight tournament on 27 October 2021 at PFL 10. 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. Cooper was scheduled to face Magomed Umalatov on May 6, 2022 at PFL 3. Umalatov would pull out of the bout and be replaced by former LFA Welterweight Champion Carlos Leal. 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 In an upset, Cooper lost the bout via unanimous decision. Cooper faced Brett Cooper on July 1, 2022 at PFL 6. He won the bout via TKO stoppage 24 seconds into the bout.

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 Warner Pacific University is a private Christian university in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1937, the university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and affiliated with the Church of God. History The school ...

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. 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.

Championships and accomplishments

** 2019 PFL Welterweight Championship ** 2021 PFL Welterweight Championship **Fastest Knockout in PFL History (0:18) *Gladiator Challenge Fights **Gladiator Challenge Lightweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 25–8–1 , Brett Cooper , TKO (knees and punches) , PFL 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:24 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 24–8–1 , Carlos Leal , Decision (unanimous) , PFL 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Arlington, Texas, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 24–7–1 , Magomed Magomedkerimov , KO (punches) , PFL 10 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:02 , Hollywood, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 23–7–1 , Rory MacDonald , Decision (unanimous) , PFL 7 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Hollywood, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 22–7–1 , Nikolay Aleksakhin , Decision (unanimous) , PFL 5 , , 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 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:23 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 20–7–1 ,

, TKO (punches) , PFL 10 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:56 ,

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Draw , align=center, , Sadibou Sy , Draw (unanimous) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–7 ,

, KO (punches) , PFL 4 , , 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 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:29 ,

Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a census-designated place (CDP), as well as a suburb in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 32,473 at the 2020 United States Census. Uniondale is home to Hofstra University's nort ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 17–6 , Magomed Magomedkerimov , Submission (guillotine choke) , PFL 11 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:18 ,

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 17–5 , Handesson Ferreira , TKO (punches) , rowspan=2 , PFL 10 , rowspan=2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:28 , rowspan=2 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–5 ,

, TKO (punches) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:10 , , - , Win , align=center, 15–5 , Pavel Kusch , TKO (punches) , PFL 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:18 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–5 ,

, TKO (punches) , PFL 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:09 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–5 , Handesson Ferreira , Decision (unanimous) , Mid-Pacific Championships 5 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Charles Bennett , TKO (punches) , X-1 48: Braddah vs. Felony , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:48 ,

, 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 ,

Jun Yong Park Park Jun-yong (born 27 February 1991) is a South Korean mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Early career Starting his career in 2013, Park compiled a ...

, Submission (anaconda choke) , Pacific Xtreme Combat 56 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Matthew Colquhoun , KO (punch) , X-1 45: Live , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:04 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Zach Conn , KO (punches) , X-1 44: The Return , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:12 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3 , Gabe Rivas , KO (punches) , Star Elite Cage Fighting , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:41 ,

Waipahu, Hawaii Waipahu () is a former sugarcane plantation town and now census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District on the island of Oahu in the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 43, ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–3 , Josh Drake , Submission (front choke) , Gladiator Challenge: Season's Beatings , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:06 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3 , Adrian Bartree , KO (punch) , Gladiator Challenge: Showdown , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:34 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , David Douglas , TKO (punches) , Star Elite Cage Fighting , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:27 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–3 , Dave Mazany , Submission (rear naked choke) , Star Elite Cage Fighting , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:24 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–3 , Jody Carter , TKO (punches) , Gladiator Challenge: Season's Beatings , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:58 ,

, 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 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Nate Harris , Submission (guillotine choke) , Destiny MMA: Na Koa 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:52 ,

, 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 ,

, 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 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Kani Correa , KO (punch) , KOTC Ali'is , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:08 ,

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References

External links

Ray Cooper III
PFL Fighter Profile * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper III, Ray American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Hawaii Lightweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling American male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers Living people 1993 births