File this one under “Feel Good Story of the Year: 2019 Edition”. The Pro Fight League finished its tournament extravaganza on New Years Eve, and perhaps improbably, a UFC washout named Sean O’Connell won the light-heavyweight tournament. In so doing, he won a million bucks. And because of that million bucks… the dude promptly retired from fighting.

There’s a lot you can say about the PFL and how effective it was in garnering interest. But if all it ever did was make one fighter set for life, then honestly, it was all worth it.

O’Connell wasn’t all that impressive in his UFC run. He ended up going 2-5, losing to the likes of Corey Anderson, Ilir Latifi, Ryan Jimmo, Gian Villante and hockey enforcer Steve Bosse. He also probably wasn’t supposed to win any PFL tournaments, but heck, when he met Vinny Magalhaes in the finals, and Magalhaes ended up too tired to do anything but flop, O’Connell was suddenly the man.

So kudos to him for getting it done, and calling it quits while at the top.

Coincidentally, O’Connell has spent some time on the mic during these PFL events, and he’s actually pretty good.

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