Outside of a brief moment in the first round where Ray Cooper III landed a wild punch from an awkward position, former UFC fighter Derek Brunson made it look easy in his PFL debut.
Brunson dominated Cooper from start-to-finish — even earning a pair of 30-25 scorecards — en route to a unanimous decision win over the former two-time PFL welterweight champion in the 185-pound main card opener of the PFL World Championship on Friday. Brunson dominated in the grappling department, landing flurries of ground and pound, and spent the majority of the fight in a dominant position.
Throughout the fight, and following the win, fellow pro fighters reacted to Brunson’s debut victory.
Blonde Brunson comeback strong in the first rd after getting rocked
— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) November 25, 2023
Talking bout Cooper father not being in the corner reason why he losing Nah reason why you losing is cause you didn’t train/prepare Good Win for Blonde Brunson
— Joaquin New Mansa Buckley (@Newmansa94) November 25, 2023
Derek Brunson is the last person to fight Jake Paul, he is the worst matchup lol.
— Cody Durden (@Cody_Durden) November 25, 2023
This story originally appeared on MMA fighting