By The Numbers: Ray Cooper III

No one has benefited any more from the advent of the Professional Fighters League than two-time champion Ray Cooper III.

The Hawaiian will enter his 2022 campaign on the strength of a six-fight winning streak. Cooper last competed at the 2021 PFL Championships on Oct. 27, when he punched out Magomed Magomedkerimov in the third round of their welterweight final at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The victory brought with it a $1 million prize and served as Cooper’s second seven-figure payday in three seasons with the PFL.

As “Bradda Boy” awaits word on the PFL’s latest plans, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:

28: Years of age for Cooper, who was born on Feb. 7, 1993 in Pearl City, Hawaii.

15: Cooper wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 63% of his career total (24). His list of PFL victims: Magomedkerimov, David Michaud, Chris Curtis, Handesson Ferreira, Jake Shields (twice) and Pavel Kusch. Cooper owns seven other wins by submission and two more by decision.

6: Sub-minute stoppage victories on the Cooper resume, though only one of them took place under the PFL banner. He punched out Kusch in 18 seconds at PFL 6 on Aug. 16, 2018.

9: Organizations in which Cooper has plied his trade as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 11-2-1 in the PFL, 4-0 in X-1 World Events, 3-1 in Gladiator Challenge, 3-0 in Star Elite Cage Fighting, 2-1 in Destiny MMA, 1-0 in King of the Cage, 0-1 in War on the Valley Isle, 0-1 in Pacific Xtreme Combat and 0-1 in Mid-Pacific Championships.

1: Stalemate on the Cooper ledger. He fought to a two-round majority draw with Sadibou Sy in a tournament quarterfinal at PFL 7 on Oct. 11, 2019.

15: First-round finishes to Cooper’s credit, with four of them having played out inside the PFL. In addition to his aforementioned rout of Kusch, he buried Shields with punches in 3:10 and cut down Ferreira with punches in 2:28 on Oct. 20, 2018, then submitted Jason Ponet with an arm-triangle choke in 1:23 on April 29, 2021.

4: Cooper losses by submission, accounting for 57% of his career total (seven). The perpetrators’ methods of choice: two guillotine chokes, one anaconda choke and one rear-naked choke. Cooper has suffered two other losses by knockout or technical knockout and one more by decision.

8: Consecutive victories for Cooper between Nov. 22, 2014 and Jan. 28, 2017. It remains the longest such streak of his career.

.735: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven men—Magomedkerimov, Ferreira, John Howard, Jun Yong Park, Craig Jackson, Danny Navarro and Joey Gomez—who have defeated Cooper. They boast a combined record of 119-41-2.

226: Combined wins between the 10 men Cooper has beaten since he joined the PFL roster in 2018: Shields (twice), Kusch, Ferreira, Magomedkerimov, Michaud, Curtis, Ponet, Zane Kamaka, Rory MacDonald and Nikolay Aleksakhin. They sport a cumulative record of 226-74-4 (.743).