nt"

When Sean O’Connell suffered his third straight UFC loss, thus ending his time in the octagon, he was “ready to be done” with MMA.

Or so he thought, anyway.

But after approximately six months, the light heavyweight saw himself spending more and more time in the gym. There, O’Connell saw his colleagues putting in the work and preparing for their own bouts. And he struggled to replace the somewhat irreplaceable rush of getting your hand raised inside the cage.

So he threw some “feelers” out there. Eventually, they landed on PFL president Ray Sefo, who let O’Connell know of the promotion’s interest. From what O’Connell could see from their roster, he could tell there was talent there on par with the type he’d faced in the UFC.

“And then he dangled that big old million-dollar carrot in front of you,” O’Connel told MMAjunkie Radio. “So I signed on the dotted line.”

O’Connell (17-9) returns to the cage Thursday in what will be his  firstfight since December 2016. He meets fellow light heavyweight and UFC vet Ronny Markes (18-5) in the NBCSN-televised main card of PFL 2, which takes place at Chicago Theater.

This is the second event of PFL’s regular season. Fighters on that stage will compete twice and get awarded scores for not only outcome, but how they achieve those outcomes. Then they’ll move on to the playoffs. Winners in each of the tournament’s six divisions, who’ll be crowned on Dec. 31, will be awarded a hefty $1 million prize.

While O’Connell’s Wikipedia page will tell you he’s a “retired American professional mixed martial artist,” his walking away from the sport didn’t make many headlines. That may have something to do with the fact that it wasn’t all that surprising; O’Connell had long said his final UFC bout would probably end up being his last in MMA.

“I was pretty public about my desire to hang it up after the UFC,” O’Connell said. “Because I didn’t feel like there were other organizations out there that were going to put you on the same stage, that were going to offer the same kind of economic opportunities.

“Even though, as UFC fighters, we’ve always complained about how much money we were making, it was still better than the pay scale you were getting elsewhere. I didn’t want to go back down the ladder, so to speak.”

Ilir Latifi and Sean O’Connell at UFC Fight Night 81.

O’Connell’s UFC run was rocky. After a two-fight skid to kick it off, the 205-pound fighter was able to score back-to-back knockout wins, only to slip into another losing stretch. But his record doesn’t tell the full picture, either. One of his setbacks, a split-call to fellow slugger Gian Villante, was a controversial ending to a thriller. And his exciting displays led to three “Fight of the Night” bonuses.

Other than his crazy fighting style, O’Connell also became notorious for his personality. His weigh-in gimmicks made for some seriously entertaining compilation videos, and the fighter often spoke about his desire to become a personality of the sport, like Joe Rogan, once he was done with performing inside the cage.

O’Connell didn’t move away from the sport altogether, with a show with SiriusXM, but he’d discover that the opportunities he longed for, be it as analyst or doing play-by-play, just weren’t as abundant when you’re not a “big-named” fighter. And he saw himself struggling to find that thing to “scratch the itch” he got from the sport.

“There is nothing else that replaces it,” O’Connell said. “And I think that’s one of the challenges as an athlete, challenges as a competitor. That you have to find something that gives you that fix. I didn’t find anything in my 18 months or so away.”

O’Connell was 33 when he left the UFC. But now, at 34, with a healthy body and – despite his fighting style – a “100 percent functional” brain, he believes he’s too young to call it quits.

“I don’t want to be looking back on this when I’m in my 40s and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I had another three, four, five years left in me,’ and I just didn’t do it because I was lazy, or I didn’t do it because I was embarrassed at how my UFC career ended,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell will give his MMA career another go Thursday. And while he still has the same goals of making a name for himself in the sport outside the cage, “The Real OC” also realizes they can greatly benefit from what happens inside of it.

“I’m one of the most exciting guys in my weight class in the whole world,” O’Connell said. “I’m one of the most interesting personalities in this sport in the whole world. If I can compete at a level on board with my intellect, with my ability to analyze the spot, my ability to articulate the sport and kind of the stories behind it, well then somebody’s going to put me as part of a broadcast team.

“And I’m going to be doing this into my 40s and 50s and 60s. But I have to win. And, in order to win, I have to convince myself that I still do matter in this sport. PFL has given me a chance to do that.”

For more on PFL 2, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.