Brand new Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson took on former two-time PFL tournament winner Ray Cooper III in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Saturday’s PFL vs. Bellator: Champions card.
Jackson took the belt off of (now formerly) undefeated fighter Yaroslav Amosov in one of 2023’s best underdog performances, stopping the champion in round three after a dominant showing. Meanwhile, Cooper has lost two of his last three since winning his second million dollar prize. He appeared to have lost motivation for fighting when he missed weight for each of those two losses, so the question was if his heart was really in it for this challenging fight.
Jackson dodged a few blitzes from Cooper to start and looked to use his length to pick away at Ray. Only a few leg kicks were needed to cause a nasty bruise on the calf of Cooper. His jab and leg kick controlled the range in the first round; Cooper slowed down quickly after being aggressive to start the bout. Cooper tried a takedown off of a slip but it was stuffed easily. Then, Jason Jackson succeeded with his own takedown and dominated from full-guard for the rest of the round, almost finishing Cooper in the final seconds.
The opening seconds of the second round saw Cooper fall down from a punch and the weakness of his leg. Jackson immediately pounced on top and rained down punches until the referee stepped in.
Following the win, which moved Bellator to 4-0 in head-to-head competition, Jackson made a smart callout of PFL Europe star and former kickboxer Cedric Doumbe. Doumbe has been red hot since arriving in the PFL, and has a fight lined up for next month.
Official Result: Jason Jackson def. Ray Cooper III by TKO (leg kicks to ground strikes) Roubnd 2, 0:23
