Brett Cooper (born July 2, 1987) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

currently competing in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

division. A professional competitor since 2005, he has also competed for Bellator, PFL, Affliction,

Absolute Championship Berkut Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), formerly known as Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), is a Chechen mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization and one of the leading promotions in Europe. To date, most events have been ...

, IFL, KSW, and Jungle Fight.

Background

Cooper was born in Providence RI, and has lived in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

his whole life.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Cooper made his professional debut in 2005 when he was 17 years old and won via TKO. He held a record of 5–4 with a split decision win over future

EliteXC Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States–based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decem ...

and

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

veteran Conor Heun before facing future UFC and Strikeforce veteran Jason Von Flue. Cooper won the bout via TKO and then made his IFL debut in his next fight against future UFC veteran Rory Markham. Cooper won again via TKO against the Miletich Fighting Systems product and followed this up with another win to bring his record to 8-4 and making his debut in Affliction.

Affliction

On January 24, 2009, Cooper fought Patrick Speight at Affliction: Day of Reckoning who he defeated by knockout.

Bellator Fighting Championships

Season Two Welterweight Tournament

Cooper fought Steve Carl as the main event at Bellator XV where is lost by

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

in the

quarterfinal A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

s of the Bellator Season Two Welterweight Tournament.

Non-tournament bouts

In 2010, Cooper moved up to the Middleweight division. He fought Matt Major at Bellator XXIX where he won by second-round technical knockout. In 2011, Cooper fought three times for Bellator in non-tournament bouts. He faced Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator XLIV where he lost by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

. Cooper fought Valdir Araujo at Bellator L where he won by third-round technical knockout. Finally, Cooper fought

Jared Hess Jared is a given name of Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the biblical patriarch Jared () was the sixth in the ten pre-flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Mahalaleel and the father of Enoch, and lived ...

at Bellator LVIII where he won by unanimous decision. In 2012, Cooper faced Darryl Cobb at Bellator LXXX where he won by unanimous decision.

Season Eight Middleweight Tournament

Cooper fought Norman Paraisy at Bellator LXXXIX in the quarterfinals of the Bellator Season Eight Middleweight Tournament. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Cooper faced Dan Cramer in the semifinals at Bellator 92. Despite losing the first two rounds, Cooper rallied to win via TKO in the third round. He faced

Doug Marshall Douglas Garrett Marshall (born February 3, 1977) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2003 until 2014, Marshall has fought in Bellator, Tachi Palace Fights, the Super Fight League, and the Pa ...

in the finals and lost via knockout in the first round. Despite losing in the finals, Cooper was chosen as a replacement for Marshall when his former opponent injured his hand. Having earlier lost to Shlemenko in 2011, Cooper had the rematch with him for the Middleweight title on September 7, 2013, at Bellator 98. He lost the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision.

Season Ten Middleweight Tournament

In March 2014, Cooper entered the Bellator Season 10 Middleweight tournament. He faced UFC veteran Kendall Grove in the semifinals at Bellator 114. After losing the first round, Cooper rallied back to win the bout via knockout in the second round. He faced Brandon Halsey in the tournament final at Bellator 122 and lost via submission.

Non-tournament bouts

Stepping in as a replacement for an injured James Irvin, Cooper was set to face Brian Rogers at Bellator 125 on September 19, 2014. However, a foot injury forced Cooper out of the bout, he was replaced with promotional newcomer Rafael Carvalho.

Absolute Championship Berkut

Cooper signed with ACB and faced Beslan Isaev at ACB 43: Battle on Sura on August 20, 2016. He won by unanimous decision. Cooper beat second Chechen super star Aslanbek Saidov at ACB 50: Rasulov vs. Goltsov on December 18, 2016. He won the fight via TKO in the third round and became a new ACB welterweight Champion. Cooper faced Mukhamed Berkhamov at ACB 67: Cooper vs. Berkhamov on August 19, 2017. He lost the fight via knockout in the second round and lost ACB welterweight title. Cooper faced Sharaf Davlatmurodov at ACB 76: Cooper vs. Davlatmurodov on December 9, 2017. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Cooper was scheduled to face Beslan Isaev at ACA 116: Froes vs Balaev. However, after making weight, he consulted with his lawyers and decided to refuse fighting because of the U.S. Department of Treasury and Great Britain's sanctions policy against Kadyrov and any organization owned by him, this including Absolute Championship Akhmat. Under these sanctions, it is illegal for any US citizen to do business with any of these entities, meaning that all American fighters could face fines or jail time if they fight for the organization.

Professional Fighters League

Cooper was scheduled to face Nikolay Aleksakhin on August 13, 2021, at PFL 7. However, on August 4, it was announced that Aleksakhin had to pull out of the match-up and was replaced by Tyler Hill. Cooper won the bout in the first round via knockout.

PFL season 2022

Cooper faced Rory MacDonald on May 6, 2022, at PFL 3. Cooper lost the bout in the first round via rear-naked choke. Cooper faced Ray Cooper III on July 1, 2022, at PFL 6. He lost the bout via TKO stoppage 24 seconds into the bout.

Personal life

Brett Cooper remains single and unmarried, with 2 brothers one who died.

Championships and accomplishments

*Absolute Championship Berkut **Welterweight championship (one time) * Bellator Fighting Championships ** Bellator Season 8 Middleweight Tournament Runner-Up

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 28–17 , Ray Cooper III , TKO (knees and punches) , PFL 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:24 ,

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, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 24–13 , Sharaf Davlatmurodov , TKO (punches) , ACB 76: Young Eagles 23 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:29 , Gold Coast, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 23–13 , Mukhamed Berkhamov , KO (punches) , ACB 67: Cooper vs. Berkhamov , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:32 ,

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. , - , Loss , align=center, 21–12 , Maiquel Falcao , KO (punch) , KSW 32: Road to Wembley , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:59 ,

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, England , , - , Win , align=center, 21–11 , Jessie Glass , TKO (punches) , Gladiator Challenge: California State Championship Series , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:11 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–11 , Mamed Khalidov , Decision (unanimous) , KSW 29: Reload , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Poland , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–10 , Brandon Halsey , Submission (armbar) , Bellator 122 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:09 ,

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, KO (punches) , Bellator 95 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:39 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 19–7 , Dan Cramer , TKO (punches) , Bellator 92 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:19 ,

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, , - , Win , align=center, 14–7 , Valdir Araujo , TKO (punches) , Bellator 50 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:35 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–6 , Matt Major , TKO (punches) , Bellator 29 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:27 ,

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Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

debut. , - , Loss , align=center, 11–6 , Steve Carl , Decision (split) ,

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, , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5 , Waachiim Spiritwolf , TKO (punches) , Fight Force International: Ultimate Chaos , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:41 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–4 , Joe Cronin , TKO (doctor stoppage) , Call To Arms 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:17 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–4 , Patrick Speight , TKO (punches) , Affliction: Day of Reckoning , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:10 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–4 , Dusty Arden , KO (punches) , PureCombat 4: Bombs Away , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:39 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–4 , Rory Markham , TKO (punches) , IFL: World Grand Prix Finals , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:15 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–4 , Vince Guzman , Submission (anaconda choke) , Shooto: The Arrival: This is Shooto , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:58 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–4 , Toby Grear , Decision , Total Fighting Alliance 6: War on the Shore , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–3 , Jesse Romero , Submission (guillotine choke) , Total Fighting Alliance 5: Conflict on the Coast , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:09 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–3 , Jesse Romero , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Universal Above Ground Fighting: Kaos on the Kampus , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:52 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–2 , Bryan Joplin , Decision (unanimous) , California Xtreme Fighting 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Ed Ratcliff , KO (spinning heel kick) , Total Combat 12 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A , Tijuana, Baja California,

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, , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Jesse Romero , Decision (unanimous) , World FC: Rumble at the Ramada , , align=center, 3 , align=center, N/A ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Cody Culkin , TKO (punches) , Total Combat 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:38 ,

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Brett 1987 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Long Beach, California