Cooper III vs Brunson

Who won Cooper III vs Brunson?

Derek Brunson beat Ray Cooper by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of PFL 10, on Friday 24th November 2023 at The Anthem in Washington.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Derek Brunson.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Middleweight division, which meant the weight limit was 185 pounds (13.2 stone or 83.9 KG).

Cooper III vs Brunson stats

Ray Cooper stepped into the octagon with a record of 25 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw, 16 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 7 by submission.

Derek Brunson made his way to the cage with a record of 23 wins, 9 losses and 0 draws, 12 of those wins coming by knock out and 4 by submission.

This was Ray Cooper's 19th fight in the PFL, having made his debut for the promotion in 2018.

Ray Cooper's PFL record stood at 12-6-1, while Derek Brunson's came in at 1-0-0.

The stats suggested Cooper had an advantage in power over Brunson, with a 64% knock out percentage over Brunson's 52%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Cooper had an advantage over Brunson, with a 28% submission rate over Brunson's 17%.

Ray Cooper was the younger man by 9 years, at 32 years old.

Brunson had a height advantage of 6 inches over Cooper. That also extended to a 7-inch reach advantage.

Cooper was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 2 more fights, and made his debut in 2012, 2 years and 1 month later than Brunson, whose first professional fight was in 2010. He had fought 3 less professional rounds, 60 to Brunson's 63.

Cooper III vs Brunson form

Cooper had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Nikolay Aleksakhin at PFL 2021 #5 on 17th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Jason Ponet at PFL 2021 #2 on 29th April 2021 by submission in the 1st round at Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City.

Going into that contest, he had defeated David Michaud at PFL 2019 #10 on 31st December 2019 by knockout in the 2nd round at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Before that, he was victorious against Chris Curtis at PFL 2019 #7 on 11th October 2019 by knockout in the 2nd round at Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas.

He had lost to John Howard at PFL 2019 #4 on 11th July 2019 by knockout in the 1st round at Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City.

Brunson had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance 3 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 22 on 20th March 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 5 on 1st August 2020 by knockout in the 3rd round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Ian Heinisch at UFC 241 on 17th August 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Honda Center, Anaheim.

Before that, he was victorious against Elias Theodorou at UFC on ESPN+ 9 on 4th May 2019 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

He had been beaten by Israel Adesanya at UFC 230 on 3rd November 2018 by knockout in the 1st round at Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Ray Cooper had been fighting more than Derek Brunson.

Going to this contest, Ray Cooper had last fought 3 years, 8 months and 24 days ago, while Derek Brunson's last outing had been 3 years, 11 months and 21 days ago.

Cooper's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 8 months and 2 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 18 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 9 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1.8 rounds on average.

Brunson's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 4 months and 10 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 3 months and 9 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Cooper III vs Brunson?

Ray Cooper was a 20/21 (-110) underdog going into the contest, while Derek Brunson made his way into the ring at 5/6 (-120) with oddsmakers.