Rory MacDonald’s disastrous start to his run in the PFL organization continued last night when he was dominated for three rounds by Ray Cooper III, sending him crashing out of the welterweight tournament.
A former UFC wonderkid who went on to become a Bellator champion, MacDonald was as high-profile a fighter as PFL had brought into the fold yet when they signed him up late last year, but the pressure was on him last night after already having suffered a split decision loss to Gleison Tibau in his debut a few months ago.
Things went even worse for him last night as former 2019 PFL champ Cooper was determined to extend his current winning streak to five fights and used his wrestling to completely shut down MacDonald on the mat for three rounds to book his spot in the 2021 final.
Cooper will now go on to fight Magomed Magomedkerimov in the tournament decider after the Russian also earned a clean sweep on the scorecards in his semi-final bout against Sadibou Sy.
Check out all the PFL 7 results below.
Main Card
Ray Cooper III def. Rory MacDonald via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Magomed Magomedkerimov def. Sadibou Sy via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Raush Manfio def. Clay Collard via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Loik Radzhabov def. Alexander Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Prelims
Gleison Tibau def. Micah Terrill via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:18 of Round 1
Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Darrell Horcher via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 29-27)
Brett Cooper def. Tyler Hill via KO (punches) at 2:32 of Round 1
Magomed Umalatov def. Leandro Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Michael Lombardo def. Kyron Bowen via TKO (leg kicks) at 3:42 of Round 1 | Watch finish
Elvin Espinoza def. Hopeton Stewart via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:45 of Round 1
