Ray Cooper III: Where Violence Brings Happiness

Ray Cooper III’s season in the Professional Fighters League provided plenty of material for the highlight reel. With technical knockouts in all four of his bouts, he has emerged as the favorite to win the promotion’s 2018 welterweight tournament and the $1 million prize that comes along with it. His has been a tale of gains, inside and outside of the cage.

“I’m just happy to take care of my mom and my dad,” Cooper told Sherdog.com. “I was supposed to go to college and wrestle, and they invested in me and I ended up not going. I cost them a lot of money, [along with] sacrifices that they made for me. I’m just happy I can take care of them now and repay them for everything they did for me because they are the best parents in the world.”

Cooper’s life and his family situation have improved much in six months. Entering the PFL season, the Hawaiian was working at a local gym, making less than minimum wage and attempting to forge a successful career as a professional fighter. An active PFL schedule coupled with extraordinary success has allowed Cooper to enjoy the most lucrative year of his career.

“To fight in the PFL and having them give us five fights and making well over $100,000, it’s awesome,” he said. “It changed my life dramatically.”

Pursuing MMA can be unforgiving on the bank account for a married father of three. However, Cooper has strengthened his financial situation throughout the year and rewarded his family for the patience and support it offered him when things were far less secure.

“My wife has been wanting a new car, so I was able to buy her a brand-new [one],” Cooper said. “That was kind of good.” However, he has no interest in the fame that often accompanies success. “I’m a secluded guy, and I keep my circle real small. I don’t let any distractions into my family. I live in the mountains, and I stay away from all that stuff. I really don’t go out. I just stay home and train.”

The mindset has limited additional pressures and carried him to the PFL welterweight final on New Year’s Eve inside the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cooper keeps his loved ones close and trains daily with his brother and father, a former fighter who now serves as his coach. A showdown with Magomed Magomedkerimov comes next. The 28-year-old Dagestan native owns an impressive 22-5 record and put together an undefeated run to the welterweight final, but Cooper does not view him as his toughest opponent of the 2018 campaign. That distinction goes to former Shooto, Strikeforce and EliteXC champion Jake Shields -- a man Cooper defeated twice in a matter of months.

“I think I fought the toughest guy twice back in the season,” Cooper said. “I think Jake is one of the most accomplished guys I’ve fought. He fought the best guys in the world.”



Nevertheless, he welcomes the challenges posed by Magomedkerimov.

“It’s going to be awesome to fight at Madison Square Garden, but I’m looking at it as just another fight, the same as the other fights,” Cooper said. “I’m going to go in there and finish this guy, and I’m going to get ready for the next season.”

His confidence has blossomed under the Professional Fighters League banner.

“I know I can hang with anybody in the world,” Cooper said. “It was just a matter of time before somebody would pick me up and give me the opportunity. PFL and Ray Sefo gave me this opportunity, and I’m going to prove I’m the best in the world. They are breaking new ground. PFL is going to be the future of MMA. If the UFC doesn’t change something, we are going to take over.”

Cooper appreciates the league’s format most of all, as fighters face each other to determine seeding before entering a tournament to hash out a season champion. The process begins anew when the calendar flips. Cooper sees it as the most effective way to determine the best of the best.

“That’s how a ranking system is supposed to be, and that’s how you find out who’s the champion,” he said. “Every year it resets, and every year you have to prove yourself [again].”

When he enters the cage on Dec. 31, the Lion of Judah representative plans to once again show the intense energy and take-no-prisoners attitude that has come to define him inside the cage. The approach dates back to his youth, when he was first introduced to combat sports.

“I had it since I was a kid wrestling,” Cooper said. “It’s just a switch I turn on, and when it’s time to scrap, it’s time to scrap.”