Sean O'Connell (born September 2, 1983) is a retired American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who most recently competed and won a title in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

division of the

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

. A professional competitor since 2007, O'Connell has formerly competed for the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

and

Maximum Fighting Championship Maximum Fighting Championship is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Edmonton, Alberta. MFC’s former home, in Canada, is the River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta, located just outside Edmonton, Alberta, but has also ...

Background

Originally from

Cottage Grove, Minnesota Cottage Grove is a city south of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul in Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County in the U.S. state, State of Minnesota. It lies on the north bank of the Mississippi River, north of the confluence with the St ...

, O'Connell competed in football and wrestling at Jordan High School in Sandy, Utah before continuing his football career collegiately. While in high school O'Connell was a member of the coveted football group Pain Train, which was reserved for only the toughest members of the offensive line. However, O'Connell would transfer to three different schools including

Southern Utah University Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

and

The University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

where he made the team as a walk-on, while looking to get more playing time. O'Connell turned his attention to mixed martial arts to supplement his Football training. O'Connell graduated from The University of Utah, with a degree in psychology. He also attended

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

O'Connell made his professional MMA debut in 2007 with no previous training other than cardio

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

which he would do to help stay in shape. Despite having limited training, O'Connell was successful early on in his career and held an overall record of 6–2, which earned him an invitation to compete on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir. O'Connell, however, was eliminated in the opening round to make it to the final cast. O'Connell, who also ran a sports talk show for a radio station in San Francisco at the time was on a five-fight winning streak and held an overall professional record of 14–4, before inviting UFC president

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

to come onto his show. O'Connell asked White for a contract live on air and was signed a year later. O'Connell was the co-host of a popular sports talk radio show on ESPN700 in Utah called The OC and Hackett Show

Ultimate Fighting Championship

O'Connell made his promotional debut as a short notice injury replacement at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale on April 16, 2014, against

Ryan Jimmo Ryan Jimmo (November 27, 1981 – June 26, 2016) was a Canadian mixed martial artist who competed in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He mostly fought in Canada and competed on the eighth season of ''The Ult ...

. O'Connell was defeated via knockout in the first round. His next appearance was also a short notice fight against

Gian Villante Gianpiero Villante (born August 18, 1985) is a retired American mixed martial artist who previously fought in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional from 2009 to 2021, he also has competed for Strikeforce ...

on June 28, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 43, where he replaced an injured

Anthony Perosh Anthony Perosh (born 5 October 1972) is a retired Australian professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Perosh was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and ...

. O'Connell lost the fight via split decision. Their performance earned both participants ''Fight of the Night'' honors. On January 18, 2015, O'Connell then faced

Matt Van Buren Matt Van Buren (born June 12, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the light heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Van Buren has also fought for Bellator and was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter 19. ...

UFC Fight Night 59 ''UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 59'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 18, 2015, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Background The event was headlined by a featherweight bout between ...

.; he won via third-round TKO. Both participants earned ''Fight of the Night'' honors on the same card as Connor McGregor. He then faced

on May 10, 2015, at

UFC Fight Night 65 ''UFC Fight Night: Miocic vs. Hunt'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 65'') was a mixed martial arts event held on 10 May 2015 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. Background The event was the first that the promot ...

. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. O'Connell is well known for his weigh-in antics before professional fights. This became his signature as video circulation of his UFC weigh-ins boosted viewership. Goofs include booping Matt Van Buren on the nose or playing an improvised game of

rock-paper-scissors Rock paper scissors (also known by other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone," or as Rochambeau, roshambo, or ro-sham-bo) is a hand game originating in China, usually played between two people, in which each p ...

with Perosh. He claims he does his jokes to add levity to an otherwise tense situation. O'Connell faced

Ilir Latifi Ilir Latifi (born July 28, 1983) is a Swedish mixed martial artist who previously fought in the Heavyweight division of the UFC. A two-time national wrestling champion and a professional MMA competitor since 2008, Latifi has also competed in Sha ...

on January 17, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 81 ''UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 81'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 17, 2016, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Background A UFC Bantamweight Championship bout between defending ...

. He lost the fight by knockout in the first round. O'Connell next faced

Steve Bossé Steve Bossé (born July 29, 1981) is a Canadian professional boxer currently competing in the heavyweight division. Bossé is a former mixed martial artist in the Light Heavyweight division of the UFC and was also known as an infamous hockey enf ...

on June 18, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 89 ''UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Thompson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 89'') was a mixed martial arts event held on June 18, 2016 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Background The event was the first that the promotion has hosted ...

. Bossé was awarded a unanimous decision victory. The back and forth action earned both participants ''Fight of the Night'' honors. O'Connell faced Corey Anderson on December 9, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 102 ''UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Abdurakhimov'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 102'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 9, 2016, at Times Union Center in Albany, New York Background This event wa ...

. He lost the fight by TKO in the second round.

Professional Fighters League

O'Connell signed with PFL in 2018. In his debut, he faced

Ronny Markes Ronny Markes (born April 21, 1988), is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2007, Markes has formerly competed for the UFC, King of the Cage, PFL, Bellator MMA, and M-1 ...

at PFL 2 on June 21, 2018, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, winning the fight by TKO in the second round. In his second fight for the promotion, O'Connell faced

Bazigit Atajev Bazigit Atavovich Atajev (, ; born 3 December 1979) is a Russian mixed martial artist and '' sanshou'' kickboxer, who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional since 2000, he has competed in RINGS and P ...

at PFL 7 on August 30, 2018. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. In the fall of 2018, O'Connell entered the PFL Light Heavyweight tournament. At PFL 9 on October 13, 2018, he defeated

Dan Spohn Daniel Brian Spohn (born October 12, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, and was a competitor on The Ulti ...

by majority decision in the quarterfinal round and then fought

Smealinho Rama Apostolis "Smealinho" Rama (born April 30, 1992) is a Greeks, Greek mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist currently competing in the Light Heavyweight (MMA), Light Heavyweight division. He competed in the Professional Fighters League, where h ...

in the semifinal round the same night, winning by knockout. O'Connell faced

Vinny Magalhães Vinicius "Vinny" de Magalhães (; born July 2, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he was a finalist in '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mi ...

in the finals at PFL 11 on December 31, 2018. He won the back-and-forth fight via TKO between the third and fourth round after Vinny Magalhães stopped the bout. With the win, O'Connell was crowned the 2018 PFL Light Heavyweight champion and earned the $1 million cash prize. Of note O’Connell worked as a broadcaster for the PFL commentating cage-side once on the same night as one of his own fights. O’Connell was hired as part of the Professional Fighters League broadcast team after his retirement as cage-side play by play announcer.

Retirement

Following his 2018 PFL tournament win, O'Connell announced he was retiring from MMA competition.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

**2018 Light Heavyweight Champion *

** Fight of the Night (Three times)

Mixed martial arts record

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, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 16–6 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:11 , Boston, Massachusetts, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–6 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Te-Huna vs. Marquardt , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

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, KO (punches) , The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale: Bisping vs. Kennedy , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:27 ,

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 15–4 , Markhaile Wedderburn , Submission (rear-naked choke) , MFC 39 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:48 ,

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 14–4 ,

Marvin Eastman Marvin Lee Eastman (born June 8, 1971) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2013, he competed in K-1, the UFC, World Fighting Alliance, Maximum Fighting Champions ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Showdown Fights 12 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–4 , Trevor Carlson , Decision (unanimous) , Showdown Fights 6 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–4 , Ben Fuimaono , TKO (punches) , Fight Night: Explosion , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:34 ,

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

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Layton, Utah Layton is a city in Davis County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 81,773, with 2022 estimates showing a slight increase to 84,665. Layton ...

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References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:OConnell, Sean Living people 1983 births American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Minnesota Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters