Rory MacDonald makes short work of Brett Cooper at PFL 3

The Professional Fighters League returns to us tonight, May 6, 2022, for PFL 3 – 2022, going down live from the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Headlining the event is two-time Olympic gold medalist (Judo) and two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison, who aims to take out six-time Sambo world champion Marina Mokhnatkina.

Former UFC title challenger, and former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald appeared on the card tonight as well, having been matched up with former ACB welterweight champion Brett Cooper.

MacDonald comes into the bout on a two-fight skid, while Cooper comes in on a two-fight win streak.

Click here for PFL 3 results

Continue reading to see how this welterweight contest went down:

Official Result: Rory MacDonald def. Brett Cooper via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:23 of round one

MacDonald opens up the bout with a jab, and immediately shoots on, and secures a single leg takedown just 15 seconds into round one. It doesn’t take him long to pass to side control either, he’s very evidently the better grappler of the two.

Cooper is able to regain half guard, but it’s passed again soon thereafter, before MacDonald takes mount.

MacDonald begins to reign down some vicious, accurate punches from the top, and it looked like the fight could be over right then and there. Cooper tries to buck him off and nearly gives up his back, but puts his back to the mat again and eats more ground-and-pound.

Cooper is eventually forced to give up his back however, the damage he was taking is just too severe. It’s much like when MacDonald fought Gegard Mousasi for the Bellator middleweight title, MacDonald is beating Cooper just the way Mousasi beat on him.

Not long after Cooper gives up his back, MacDonald sinks in his hooks and secures the rear naked choke victory, snapping his two-fight skid and making it 1-0 thus far in PFL’s 2022 season. He now leads the welterweight pack with six points.

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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