Ray Cooper looks to become a three-time PFL champion this year, but he insists the world title belts have no value to him.
Cooper faces Brett Cooper this Friday in a pivotal fight at PFL 6. His six-fight unbeaten run was snapped in his opening bout of the season against Carlos Leal, with Cooper also being deducted a point for missing weight before his decision loss.
The Hawaiian won his second PFL title and $1million prize last October, knocking out Magomed Magomedkerimov after a flawless campaign. Cooper entered last season as the defending champion having also won the 2019 season.
Despite being a two-time champion, Cooper insists his belts are "meaningless" and he doesn't even keep them at his own home. "My grandmother has them somewhere at my parents [house]. I really don’t care, it's just objects. They are just meaningless to me, just the fact of being in there and the moment is the one," he said.
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"You don’t realise it until after the fight and you’re done with it. You just have to live in the moment and the memories that it is. I was always like that from when I was young, winning state titles and stuff like that.
"I really don’t care about it, it’s just about beating the best guys and pushing myself, all the belts don’t really matter to me. Just the prize and being a three-time world champion is it."
Cooper's one-point deduction means he will need a finish to land himself a spot in this year's playoffs. It's unfamiliar territory for the 29-year-old, who has reached the final of each year's competition since 2018. Cooper admitted he doesn't have a gameplan ahead of his fight and plans to finish his opponent as soon as possible.
"I don't have a gameplan, I'm just going to go straight at him because I need a finish so there's no time to hang around and feeling him out. I've just got to get the finish as soon as I can and get myself a spot in the playoffs," he added.
