CHICAGO – Kai Kamaka III was thrown to the bottom of the pool Friday in his PFL debut, but thanks to family ties he regained his confidence.
Kamaka (13-5-1) won a unanimous decision over Bubba Jenkins (21-8) in the PFL’s third and final event of the first half of the 2024 regular season in Chicago. With this win, Kamaka gained three points in the featherweight rankings.
After the fight, Kamaka, who moved to Bellator from Hawaii and has won four of his past five fights, said advice from his cousin Ray Cooper III helped him prepare for his PFL debut. Cooper is a two-time welterweight winner of the PFL’s $1 million prize.
“I was kind of teary-eyed this morning,” Kamaka told MMA Junkie and other reporters after his win over Jenkins. “My cousin Ray surprised me when he saw me fight and I made eye contact with him right before the fight started. So, we’ve come full circle. Five years ago, I met him from the East Coast touring this league. followed.
“I wish we both could have played tonight, but I think we were rather lucky that he didn’t, because I think I was more nervous. But today, and during the game, When I looked at him, he gave me confidence, but especially during the second and third rounds, I saw him stand up and then make eye contact with him again. lit another fire under me – he just brought another fire to me.”
Kamaka earned three points in the featherweight standings, putting him in a three-way tie behind Brendan Loughnen and Gabriel Braga, who earned six points in the first round.
For Kamaka, a win against his opponent in the second round in late June will be crucial to advance to the four-a-side postseason, and finishing may be even more important, but the 29-year-old is just “W” said he is only worried about winning and is not aiming for the finish.
“The season accelerates from here,” Kamaka said. “It’s important to be a person who can maintain good health and a strong mind. But losing weight is not bad. I don’t need much rest time. I heal my body well and am a student of the game. The tournament begins Masu.
“I’m just trying to win games. I keep winning, you move on. Win and finish, that’s what PFL is all about – but I have to make money And we have to keep winning.”
The welterweight fought Kamaka’s featherweight on the card Friday at Wintrust Arena, but Cooper was not on the field. He won the welterweight season in 2019 and won again in 2021. In 2022, he missed the weigh-in in his first fight of the season and suffered a 24-second KO loss in his second fight, but missed the playoffs.
Cooper moved up to middleweight in 2023, but lost a decision to UFC veteran Derek Brunson and lost a catchweight bout to Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson earlier this year. But despite his current hurdles, Cooper continues to have a solid influence on Kamaka’s career.
“He was there for my UFC debut,” Kamaka said. “He probably got me to that turning point in my career, I don’t even think I would have been anywhere in my career if he hadn’t done so well in the PFL.
“After he did well, he won the championship, and that’s when my career started to take off because during his camp, I’m with him in everything. ” Seeing his win convinced me that I was doing everything right, which helped turn my career around. That pushed me. That alone gave me confidence that I was doing the right thing. ”
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s PFL 2024 Week 3 event hub.
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