PFL’s Ray Cooper III Looking to Finish Brett Cooper, Get Rematch with Carlos Leal Miranda

Things took an unexpected ugly turn for Ray Cooper III this year, when the two-time Professional Fighters League welterweight champion (24-8-1, 11-3-1 PFL) faced Carlos Leal Miranda in both men’s first fight of the season. Cooper missed weight ahead of the clash, then put on a flat performance in the cage, losing to Miranda on all three judges’ scorecards. The Hawaiian fighter is scheduled to lock horns with Brett Cooper at this week’s PFL 6, and desperately needs a finish to secure his place in the playoffs. “Bradda Boy” discussed with Sherdog some of the reasons for his performance in May, as well as how he plans to move forward from the loss.

“I came in out of shape,” Cooper said. “That's just what it is. I didn't train on a full camp. I really don't call all my losses as losses to my opponent. I lost to myself, that's just me fighting myself in there. Yeah, I just came out of shape and that's it. Hopefully, I can get my rematch. I think he's fighting in the tournament now. He wasn't fighting ‘cause he is an alternate, but people fell out. So he's in and hopefully, I'm gonna finish this Brett Cooper and, hopefully, I can get my rematch with Leal in the future.”

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:31) Wearing an orthopedic cast after his latest fight
(01:13) Discussing B.J. Penn’s political agenda
(02:41) The situation in Hawaii
(03:55) What should be done to improve the situation
(05:58) Aiming to finish his opponent in the first round
(06:40) Finding the right motivation
(07:30) Losing to Carlos Leal Miranda
(09:03) Commenting on the level of competition he has faced
(10:03) Missing weight ahead of the fight
(11:04) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.