Jake Shields vs. Ray Cooper III Headlines PFL 3, Full Card Announced
The full card has been announced for the Professional Fighters League 3 event, with Jake Shields and Ray Cooper III taking the main event slot.
Shields (32-9-1-1NC) has won just one of his last three fights, with that lone win coming over Danny Davis Jr. at PFL: Everett. Shields is a former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, defeating Robbie Lawler to win the strap at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Shields actually fought Cooper III father in Ray Cooper II, winning one of two against the elder Cooper.
Cooper III (13-4-0) is going to be making his PFL debut in this fight and he hasn’t picked up a victory in almost a year. Cooper III has only seen just one of his professional MMA fights go the distance and that was a loss to Handesson Ferreira at Mid-Pacific Championships 5. Cooper III also holds a win over Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and that victory came back at X-1 MMA 48.
Other notable fights on the card include UFC veteran Rick Story facing UFC veteran Yuri Villefort, UFC veteran Eddie Gordon against Shamil Gamzatov, UFC veteran Paul Bradley against Joao Zeferino, UFC veteran John Howard against Gasan Umalatov and UFC veteran Bojan Velickovic against Jonatan Westin.
PFL 3 takes place on Thursday, July 5 from the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington DC with Jake Shields and Ray Cooper III headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on the NBC Sports Network.
