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Check out these photos from the 2022 PFL 3 ceremonial weigh-ins.
Check out these images from the 2022 PFL 3 ceremonial weigh-ins and faceoffs at Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas. (Photos by Matthew Wells, MMA Junkie)
The weigh-ins are in the books for the PFL’s third event of the season, but not everyone hit the mark for Friday’s bouts.
ARLINGTON, Texas – The weigh-ins are in the books for the PFL’s third event of the season, and there was some drama on the scales.
The event features welterweights and women’s lightweights, including 2021 champions [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] and [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag]. Former UFC champion [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] also competes on the card against [autotag]Myles Price[/autotag] in the lone men’s lightweight bout.
Harrison (12-0) weighed in at 155 pounds and her opponent, [autotag]Marina Mokhnatkina[/autotag] (6-2) stepped on the scale at 154.2 pounds, making the main event bout official.
The co-feature bout was met with issues, as two-time welterweight season winner Cooper III (24-7-1) came in heavy at 176.4 pounds. He will be deducted one point in the welterweight standings and cannot earn points, regardless of the outcome of his bout on Friday. His opponent, [autotag]Carlos Leal[/autotag] (16-3) made weight, recording 169.9 pounds.
[autotag]Genah Fabian[/autotag] also had troubles on the scale, as she weighed in at 160.8 pounds for her lightweight bout against [autotag]Julia Budd[/autotag]. Fabian (4-2) will also lose a point and cannot earn points regardless of the result of the bout. Budd (16-3) made weight at 154.4 pounds.
The 11-fight PFL 2022, Week 3 event takes place Friday at Esports Arena in Arlington, Texas. The main card airs on ESPN2 following prelims on ESPN+.
The complete 2022 PFL 3 weigh-in results include:
MAIN CARD (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
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Ray Cooper believes he’ll cross paths with Magomed Magomedkerimov again during the PFL 2022 season.
ARLINGTON, Texas – PFL welterweight champion [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] sees a familiar foe is in his future this season.
Cooper expects to cross paths with 2018 PFL champ Magomed Magomedkerimov, whom he’s fought twice before. Cooper (24-7-1) first faced Magomedkerimov in the 2018 welterweight final. He lost by second-round guillotine choke. Cooper would later settle the score as he met the Russian in the 2021 final, winning by third-round knockout.
The Hawaiian is well aware anything can happen during the season and in the playoffs, but he has a feeling he’ll meet Magomedkerimov a third time.
“I’m not too sure. Everyone is kind of even, and anything could happen, but I really think Magomed gonna be back, and we’re gonna have our trilogy,” Cooper told MMA Junkie at 2022 PFL 3 media day on Wednesday.
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Despite his gut feeling, Cooper is indifferent about a trilogy bout with Magomedkerimov.
“If it happens it happens, but my goal is just to get to the final and whoever is there is there,” Cooper said. “That’s the kind of mentality you have to have going into these tournaments. You can’t expect to fight somebody in the championship if he’s not there, so you have to be ready to fight anybody.”
The 29-year-old Cooper returns Friday in the co-main event of 2022 PFL 3. He takes on PFL newcomer Carlos Leal. Cooper doesn’t know much about Leal but is confident he’ll get the job done regardless.
“I didn’t watch any of his fights, just kind of saw the highlights,” Cooper said. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. I have a lot of fights and fought a lot of guys, a lot of different styles. He’s just in my way.”
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MMA Junkie’s Nolan King shares news tidbits and rumblings from around the MMA world.
Before we get into the crux of what you all showed up for (news), we want to re-introduce you to the “Insider’s Scoop.”
Every once in and while, our reporters, when enough noteworthy developments have piled up, will release news in an easy-to-digest roundup for the MMA Junkie audience.
From fight rumblings to event locations and dates to roster departures and more, various tidbits will be featured each time “Insider’s Scoop” is released.
So without further ado, here’s the latest edition of “Insider’s Scoop.”
For the second time, Ray Cooper III took home the $1 million PFL welterweight prize.
[autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] has power in his hands – $1 million power.
For the second time in his professional career, Cooper (24-7-1) won the PFL welterweight championship and the seven-figure prize that comes along with it.
At 2021 PFL Championship, Cooper knocked out [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] (29-6) with a violent punching combination and follow-up shots at 3:02 of Round 3.
The event took place Wednesday at Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Hollywood, Fla. The main card aired on ESPN2/ESPN+ after prelims on ESPN+.
The first round was back-and-forth with both men having their moments. In Round 2, Cooper took Magomedkerimov to the canvas where he worked for an unorthodox opposite-side arm-triangle choke. Despite a solid amount of pressure on his head and neck, Magomedkerimov wiggled his way out of danger.
In Round 3, the momentum shifted in Magomedkerimov’s favor. While his output seemed similar to the first two rounds, the rate at which his punches were landing seemingly increased. He tagged Cooper over and over and even seemed to stun the Hawaiian at one point.
Despite the shots, Cooper hung in the fight and it’s a good thing for him that he did. After a solid hook connected on the feet, Cooper landed another that floored Magomedkerimov. From there, Cooper put the lights out with violent follow-up ground-and-pound shots.
Ray Cooper III Shuts Down Magomed!#PFLChampionship pic.twitter.com/bOgZpphY5G
— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 28, 2021
With the win, Cooper avenges a submission loss to Magomedkerimov in the 2018 PFL Championship. He extended his winning streak to six with the victory.
As for Magomedkerimov, the loss snaps his 13-fight winning streak including an unbeaten 10-fight stretch in PFL.
The up-to-the-minute 2021 PFL Championship results include:
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Watch the pre-fight staredowns from the 2021 PFL Championship weigh-ins in Hollywood, Fla.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] might’ve done her final PFL staredown.
The two-time Olympic judo gold medalist and 2019 PFL champion squared off for the last time against her opponent [autotag]Taylor Guardado[/autotag] following Tuesday’s weigh-ins for 2021 PFL Championship. The two competitor are set to meet in the main event of Wednesday’s 2021 PFL Championship. They fight for the women’s lightweight title along with the $1 million prize.
Harrison (11-0) is set to become a free agent following her fight with Guardado. She has yet to revel wether she’ll re-sign with PFL or go else where.
The main card for PFL Championship airs on ESPN2 and streams on ESPN+ at 8:00 p.m. ET following the prelims on ESPN+ at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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Additionally other 18 fighters faced off including five other title bouts and four non-championship fights.
The staredowns include [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] (welterweight final), [autotag]Abigail Montes[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Claressa Shields[/autotag], [autotag]Bruno Cappelozza[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag] (heavyweight final), [autotag]Movlid Khaybulaev[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Chris Wade[/autotag] (featherweight final), [autotag]Antonio Carlos Junior[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marthin Hamlet[/autotag] (light heavyweight final), [autotag]Raush Manfio[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag] (lightweight final).
Check out the pre-fight faceoffs in the video above.
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Check out the fighters stepping on the scale and their faceoffs at the 2021 PFL Championship ceremonial weigh-ins.
The 2021 PFL Championship ceremonial weigh-ins take place Tuesday, and you can watch a live video stream right here on MMA Junkie beginning at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT).
The ceremonial weigh-ins are being held at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla. The same venue hosts Wednesday’s event, with a main card that airs on ESPN2 and streams on ESPN+ after prelims on ESPN+.
The 2021 PFL Championship event features 10 fights, including all six divisional finals for a $1 million grand prize. In the main event, undefeated [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] meets [autotag]Taylor Guardado[/autotag] for the women’s lightweight title. And in the co-headliner, [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag] and [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] will rematch for the welterweight title.
You can watch the full ceremonial weigh-ins and fighter faceoffs in the video above.
Below is the full 2021 PFL Championship lineup:
MAIN CARD (ESPN2, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4:30 p.m. ET)
Hear from all the 2021 PFL Championship finalists at the pre-fight press conference.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The PFL’s 2021 season is almost over as its championship finale is set to go down next month.
The event takes place on Oct. 27 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. It features six championship fights, plus three non-title bouts.
You can watch the pre-event news conference for the 2021 PFL Championship on MMA Junkie today at 5 p.m. ET.
Expected to take part are PFL president Ray Sefo, as well as [autotag]Claressa Shields[/autotag], [autotag]Abigail Montes[/autotag], [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag], [autotag]Taylor Guardado[/autotag], [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag], [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag], [autotag]Movlid Khaybulaev[/autotag], [autotag]Chris Wade[/autotag], [autotag]Marthin Hamlet[/autotag], [autotag]Antonio Carlos Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]Ante Delija[/autotag], [autotag]Bruno Cappelozza[/autotag], [autotag]Raush Manfio[/autotag], and [autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag].
Watch the pre-fight press conference live stream in the video above.
Ray Cooper III turns his focus to a rematch with Magomed Magomedkerimov after defeating Rory MacDonald in the PFL semifinals.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The MMA community may have been surprised at the outcome of Friday’s 2021 PFL Playoffs 1 main event, but [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag] was not.
Cooper (23-7-1 MMA, 10-2-1 PFL) was matched up against [autotag]Rory MacDonald[/autotag] in what promised to be a tough fight for both welterweight competitors who hoped to punch their ticket to the PFL finals to face [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag].
However, at the conclusion of the fight, there was no doubt that Cooper did enough to win the fight, in fact, the only question was if a judge gave MacDonald a single round.
“(It was) Nothing I didn’t expect, I knew this was going to happen,” Cooper told MMA Junkie. “Nothing but respect for Rory. He’s a great competitor, awesome fighter.”
Perhaps the key to success on Friday evening was Cooper’s approach to the fight, as he didn’t allow the stage, the moment, or the opponent to get to him all week long. He simply approached the fight with the same mentality as he always does in a tournament format.
“He’s just another guy,” Cooper said. “He’s in my way of my main goal. This is a tournament style. This is not, ‘Oh, you’re fighting a big guy this fight, that’s your biggest fight.’ No, you have to focus on the fights after that too, but you still gotta be focused on the fight in front of you and that’s what I did. I focused on him, I got past it, and now I’m focused on the main, main goal, and that’s winning the championship.”
All three judges scored the contest 30-27 in favor of Cooper over MacDonald, giving him a clean sweep on the cards and advancing him to the finals to face Magomedkerimov, who defeated Sadibou Sy via unanimous decision on Friday.
Cooper will have a chance at revenge against Magomedkerimov, who defeated him in the 2018 tournament championship via second-round guillotine choke.
“I’m getting my rematch,” Cooper said. “It’s a totally different fight now, the way I’m gonna approach it, the way Magomed’s gonna approach it – we both know how we fight, but that last fight we fought, I was a little bit immature during the fight, but now, I know what he’s gonna do already. It’s no secret what he does. He’s gonna wrestle. Period. I’m ready.”
The 2021 PFL Playoff finals will take place Oct. 27 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
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Hear from PFL president Ray Sefo and winners from Friday’s 2021 PFL Playoffs 1 at the post-fight press conference.
The PFL’s 2021 playoffs got underway on Friday with 2021 PFL Playoffs 1 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
Following the event, you can watch the post-event press conference on MMA Junkie to hear from the competitors of the event.
Expected to take part in the press conference are PFL president Ray Sefo, as well as winners from the event including [autotag]Ray Cooper III[/autotag], [autotag]Magomed Magomedkerimov[/autotag], [autotag]Raush Manfio[/autotag], and [autotag]Loik Radzhabov[/autotag].
Watch the post-fight press conference in the video above.
