Since first stepping foot inside PFL’s Smart Cage, Magomed Magomedkerimov has been unstoppable, capturing 10 straight wins which includes winning the 2018 championship by shocking Ray Cooper III, submitting him via guillotine in round two of their title fight.
Magomedkerimov was unable to repeat as champion in 2019 due to injury, and Cooper ultimately went on to win the title and $1 million prize that year. After the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19, the two men will now meet in a rematch in the 2021 finals.
Their Welterweight title fight will co-headline PFL 10 tonight (Weds., Oct. 27) in Hollywood, Florida.
“It’s just competition. I like to get back what I lost and show that I’ve improved from the last fight. The most important thing is winning the title and getting to this position in the final. That’s my concern,” Cooper told members of the media including MMA Mania during a recent PFL media day to promote the event.
Magomedkerimov, meanwhile. knows Cooper has been targeting a do-over and working on his mistakes. That being said, he doesn’t envision anything different come fight night.
“Two years passed, he wasn’t wasting his time. He’s been having fights and training. He might have certain things (new). But so have I, I’ve been training, putting a lot of work in. I think the outcome is gonna be the same, but we’ll just see how it goes.”
Ahead of the rematch, check out each man’s road to the final in the embedded videos above and below.
For much more on PFL 10 click here.