Rob Wilkinson had a short-lived stint in the UFC, but he was able to find some valuable takeaways from the experience nonetheless.
According to Wilkinson, his loss to reigning Israel Adesanya at UFC 221 proved to be particularly useful. In hindsight, Wilkinson wishes he followed the reigning UFC middleweight champion’s career path a little bit more closely.
“I definitely learned some lessons from fighting Israel. Even after fighting him, I got invited to train with him for a while,” Wilkinson said at a PFL media day. “And even how he approached going to the UFC, he actually turned them down for few years before he was ready to go straight to the top.
“I feel like I was so excited to get there, but I might not have been fully ready to be there — at least not competing against the Top 10 guys in the world. I’ve had that time off after the UFC where I took some time, I improved on my striking, I had some kickboxing, boxing fights. Now I’m ready to show I’m the best fighter in the world.”
Wilkinson has been on a roll since parting ways with the UFC after back-to-back losses. His current four-fight winning streak includes TKO finishes of Bruce Souto and Viktor Pesta during the PFL 2022 regular season, which earned him the No. 1 seed in the light heavyweight bracket. Wilkinson will face Delan Monte in a semifinal bout at PFL 7 on Friday at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. The evening’s main card airs on ESPN and ESPN+ beginning at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
Wilkinson isn’t satisified with simply making the postseason, however.
“Playoffs weren’t the goal, the goal was winning the title,” he said. “I’ve been eager to compete and fight regularly for a few years now. It’s been a struggle since by my release from the UFC. It’s awesome to have that activity and be able to just keep fighting. Obviously you’ve got to make sure you’re managing your injuries and not overtraining.”
While Wilkinson’s knockout power has garnered the lion’s share of the attention thus far during his PFL tenure, his striking has been a work in progress since he was in the UFC.
“Everyone’s talking about my striking at the moment. I don’t know if anyone realized I was heavily grappling focused when I first started,” he said. “Just before I got into the UFC I hadn’t done much striking, I was only kind of picking it up to high level.
“I’m very comfortable on the ground. I’m very happy to take him (Monte) down and submit him on the ground. I think that’s a huge part of my game. I know I’ve been showing off my striking at the moment, but haven’t stopped grappling.”
Monte is a relatively unheralded opponent, but he made waves by stopping 2019 light heavyweight champion Emiliano Sordi just 1:32 into Round 1 of their fight at PFL 4 on June 17. Prior to that, all of Monte’s success occurred on the Brazilian regional circuit.
“I can finish it anywhere,” Wilkinson said. “If it stays on the feet, I think I’ll knock him out pretty early. He’s pretty wild and aggressive, but his defense ins’t that good. Once he feels my power he’ll start looking to take me down. I’m comfortable ground and pounding or getting the submission. I wouldn’t mind getting a sub since I’ve gotten a couple knockouts in a row.”
Wilkinson is more focused on championship gold than the $1 million prize that accompanies it. It’s something that has driven him since the beginning of his MMA career.
“The million dollars is huge, but that’s just a bonus to me,” he said. “The goal is becoming a world champion. That’s what I’m gonna stay focused on. That’s been a goal of mine for 13 years and I’m excited to fulfill that.”
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