PFL Championship results: Sean O’Connell among $1M winners

Check out the results and highlights from the Professional Fighters League 2018 Championship, as a half-dozen fighters walked away with $1 million checks.

The Professional Fighters League closed out 2018 with an entertaining night of fights that saw six fighters get $1 million checks for winning their respective tournaments. There were several surprises along the way, including in the main event, as Ray Cooper III was choked out by Magomed Magomedkerimov in the welterweight final. By far the most heartwarming moment of this New Year’s Eve special at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theatre was UFC veteran Sean O’Connell weathering the early storm from Vinny Magalhaes, as he was able to rally back and render Magalhaes unable to continue after three rounds. O’Connell then announced his retirement, and considering he’s a radio host and a PFL broadcaster, not a bad way to end your MMA career than with a big payday following an upset win.

Others who prevailed and were crowned PFL champions were heavyweight Philipe Lins, lightweight Natan Schulte, featherweight Lance Palmer (who was the WSOF champion before it rebranded as PFL), and kicking the night off was a stunning KO by Louis Taylor to win the middleweight title against Abus Magomedov.

In non-tournament action, rising women’s MMA star Kayla Harrison won in lopsided fashion against Moriel Charneski, as she continues to build up her career and raise her profile.

Here’s how the fights played out, and happy new year to you all!

Welterweight Final: Magomed Magomedkerimov def. Ray Cooper III by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:18 of round 2

It looked as if Cooper was going to be in massive trouble when he was taken down seconds into the fight. Magomedkerimov worked to the back and softened Cooper up with punches, went for a rear-naked choke and then focused on the neck crank, but Cooper fought the hands and freed himself on his way to getting to his feet again. Magomedkerimov sought to neutralize Cooper’s aggressive and dangerous striking, which he did to great effect through round one. Magomed got caught with a knee in an exchange but then closed the distance and whacked Cooper with two knees of his own, and a hard straight right before the horn sounded.

Cooper was struggling with Magomedkerimov’s footwork and elusiveness, so his vaunted power shots were not coming through like in his previous fights throughout the season. In a dramatic twist, Magomedkerimov got a hold of the Hawaiian and jumped on a guillotine choke, which looked tight, was tight, and Cooper tapped.

Heavyweight Final: Philipe Lins def. Josh Copeland by TKO (strikes) at :30 of round 4

Round one was described by NBC Sports commentator Todd Harris as “an aggressive feeling out round” which was a kind way to say not a lot of meaningful offense happened. Lins stunned Copeland early in round two with a good early flurry, but Copeland kept his composure. In fact, the Brazilian was in control of things for most of the round as Copeland struggled to let his hands go or indeed land any telling blows, while Lins’ counterpunching was on point. He closed the second frame strongly with a calf kick knockdown and a flurry of punches on the ground.

Copeland was tough as nails but he was fading fast and outmatched on the feet, and his tendency to lead with his head caused a cut above Lins’ left eye due to a headbutt. Lins sealed the deal early in the fourth with an onslaught of knees and a right hand, with Dan Miragliotta intervening to end the sustained beatdown.

Light Heavyweight Final: Sean O’Connell def. Vinny Magalhaes by TKO (corner stoppage) at 5:00 of round 3

In a striker vs. grappler matchup, you’d have thought when Magalhaes took O’Connell down in the first round, “The Real OC” would’ve been in trouble. He was, but he wasn’t finished despite giving up dominant positions, absorbing punches, and fending off submission attempts from the decorated grappler. All of that effort pretty much wrecked Vinny’s gas tank, as he shot for tons of bad, labored takedowns over the next two rounds, with O’Connell defending them all with increasing ease. Even when the fight was occasionally on the ground, O’Connell wasn’t in any considerable danger.

Magalhaes tried to trade with O’Connell, but he was exhausted and got worked in round two, was hurt and even more tired in round three, such that he was repeatedly flopping to his back after failed takedowns, with O’Connell telling him to get up.

At the end of the third, Magalhaes went for a desperation armbar but couldn’t get it, and Vinny went back to his corner and told his trainer that he couldn’t continue, giving O’Connell the $1 million prize. The former UFC fighter announced his retirement after pulling off the storybook upset.

Women’s Lightweight: Kayla Harrison def. Moriel Charneski by TKO (punches) at 3:39 of round 1

Harrison used her judo to toss Charneski to the mat just ten seconds into the fight, then instantly advance to mount, where she dished out ground-and-pound. She grabbed Charneski’s right arm and briefly pinned it behind her head to deliver more unanswered head shots. She transitioned to the back, threatened an armbar, then just went back to pounding Charneski’s face, flattening her out and then raining down strikes to get the TKO finish. The two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo remains undefeated in MMA and is going to be really hard to beat when PFL creates the women’s lightweight tournament in 2019.

Lightweight Final: Natan Schulte def. Rashid Magomedov via unanimous decision (48-46, 48-46, 48-46)

The first couple of minutes were a slow grind in the clinch, then Schulte judo tossed Magomedov to the floor and went for the back, but didn’t have the hooks in and Rashid was back to his feet. Seconds later, Schulte got cracked with a front kick to the face. Certainly the highlight of an opening round that didn’t have a whole lot of action to talk about. Round two was largely Magomedov’s, as he outstruck Schulte at range pretty decisively and worked the body heavily, but he lost a point due to a first-time eye poke that was certainly inadvertent. Magomedov continued to dominate the striking in the third round, lacing the Brazilian with body kicks and left hooks to the liver, while Schulte kept moving forward and trying to tie up Rashid in the clinch, but his own offense was pretty sparse.

Round four was one of Schulte’s best, as he hit a neat foot sweep on the Russian and was just draped all over him looking to wear him out with takedowns and pressure. Magomedov wasn’t able to get much going with his striking outside of the first half-minute. After some early close-quarters striking, with Schulte kneeing in the clinch and Magomedov ripping the body some more, Schulte again searched for clinches against the fence and takedown attempts. Magomedov didn’t really provide much of an answer as he seemingly faded out of the fight, but Schulte was just about wall-and-stalling in there, and it’s a strategy that worked well.

Featherweight final: Lance Palmer def. Steven Siler by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-45, 49-46)

Round one was seemingly going in Palmer’s favor, but a head kick in the closing seconds had Lance in some trouble, as Siler charged forward and looked to get the finish. Siler lost his balance in an exchange and it almost looked as if he’d been dropped himself, but he wagged his finger and indicated he was okay. Team Alpha Male’s Palmer had the wrestling advantage and was able to get his second takedown of the fight midway through round two. He didn’t manage anything meaningful on top and Siler did stand up again, albeit into a grinding body lock against the fence until Siler broke free. That time on the feet was short-lived, as Palmer hit another well-timed takedown, this time in the center of the cage. Siler looked for a triangle-armbar but it didn’t materialize.

Palmer’s wrestling told the story of round three, as he took Siler’s back and searched for a submission, but was too high on the back and Siler eventually slipped out. Siler would be taken down again in the final minute of the frame, with Palmer getting in some ground-and-pound and fending off a gogoplata attempt. Round four was more Palmer domination, as Siler had pretty much no offense to speak of and was on his back for the majority of the frame. Palmer had his first takedown of the final round stuffed, but he turned the corner and dumped Siler to the mat one more time just a minute later, and he got pummeled until the horn sounded.

So the rematch of their 2017 fight sure wasn’t much different from the five-round rematch, and Palmer has got himself a major payday to cap off this win.

Middleweight final: Louis Taylor def. Abus Magomedov by KO (punch) at :33 of round 1

There’s not much to report here! Taylor smoked Magomedov with a left hook that had him crashing to the mat. The follow-up right hand wasn’t even needed, as Magomedov was already out. That’s a $1 million left hook from Louis Taylor, a former Strikeforce fighter who was cut from the UFC several years back without having ever competed for the promotion. This was undoubtedly the best finish of the card.