Rob Wilkinson

Rob Wilkinson (born 22 February 1992) is an Australian mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL), where he won the championship in 2022. A professional competitor since 2011, he previously competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was the middleweight champion in Australian Fighting Championship and BRACE.

Background
Wilkinson was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia where he currently resides. Wilkinson started training at the age of 17 at Hobart’s Hybrid Training Centre, and was a personal trainer prior to taking up a career in MMA. He started training MMA after watching a video on YouTube of Randy Couture which he instantly fell in love with the sport.

Early career
Wilkinson made his professional debut in 2011 and amassed a record of 11–0. He has won all fights via stoppage but one and holds 9 out of his 11 fights in the 1st round, en route to capturing both Australian Fighting Championship middleweight title and BRACE middleweight championship belt. He last competed in a battle of undefeated fighters, submitted German Alexander Poppeck in the first round in Finland prior signed by UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Wilkinson made his promotional debut on 2 September 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve, replacing injured Abu Azaitar, against Siyar Bahadurzada. He lost the fight via TKO in round two, handing him his first career loss.

Wilkinson faced Israel Adesanya on 11 February 2018 at UFC 221. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

On 14 August 2018 it was announced that Wilkinson was released from UFC.

Post-UFC career
In 2019, Wilkinson competed in two kickboxing bouts, winning both and earning a record of 2-0.

Almost two years since his previous MMA bout, Wilkinson moved up to the light heavyweight division and faced Dylan Andrews at AFC 23 on 1 December 2019. He won the fight via first-round submission.

On 9 April 2021 Wilkinson defeated Daniel Almeida via first round TKO, winning the Hex Fight Series Light Heavyweight Championship.

Wilkinson was scheduled to defend his title against Sam Kei at Hex Fight 22 on 9 July 2021. However, the bout was scrapped due to unknown reason.

2022 Season
Wilkinson faced Bruce Souto on April 23, 2022 at PFL 1. He won the bout via ground and pound technical knockout in the second round.

Wilkinson faced Viktor Pešta on June 17, 2022 at PFL 4. He won the bout via TKO stoppage in the first round.

Wilkinson faced Delan Monte in the Semifinals off the Light Heavyweight tournament on August 5, 2022 at PFL 7. He won the bout in the first round, knocking out Monte after landing a knee and then finishing him off with punches.

In the finals of the Light Heavyweight tournament, Wilkinson faced Omari Akhmedov on November 25, 2022 at PFL 10. He won the bout after the fight was stopped by the doctor due to a cut after the second round, also winning the $1 million collective tournament pool.

2023 Season
Wilkinson started the 2023 season against former UFC Light Heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos on April 1, 2023 at PFL 1. He won the bout via unanimous decision. The result of the bout was later overturned to a no contest after Wilkinson tested positive for Elevated t/e ratio resulting from the androgynous origin of testosterone.

Wilkinson was scheduled to face Will Fleury on June 8, 2023 at PFL 4. After Fleury had failed a commission drug test, he was replaced by Ty Flores. However on May 31 it was revealed that Wilkinson also failed a drug test. In process, he was pulled out of the 2023 season and Daniel Spohn replaced him in the bout against Flores. Wilkinson was later suspended 9 months and fined for his positive drug test.

2024 Season
Wilkinson started the 2024 season with a bout against Tom Breese on April 12, 2024 at PFL 2. He won the fight by first-round technical knockout with a knee and punches.

Boxing career
Having problems finding mixed martial arts fights, Wilkinson opted to compete also in boxing, making his debut against Jayden Joseph for the vacant Tasmanian Heavyweight title on 30 October 2021. He won the fight via fifth-round technical knockout.

Mixed martial arts

 * Professional Fighters League
 * 2022 PFL Light Heavyweight Championship
 * Australian Fighting Championship
 * AFC Middleweight Championship (One time)
 * BRACE
 * BRACE Middleweight Championship (One time)
 * Hex Fight Series
 * Hex Fight Series Light Heavyweight Championship (one time)

Kickboxing record

 * - style="background:#CCFFCC;"
 * 2019-08-24|| Win ||align=left|🇦🇺 Patrick Dittrich || Tasmanian Fighting Championships 2 || Hobart, Australia || Decision (split) || 5 || 3:00
 * - style="background:#CCFFCC;"
 * 2019-05-18|| Win ||align=left|🇦🇺 Joe Tullo || Tasmanian Fighting Championships 1 || Hobart, Australia || KO || 2 || 1:28
 * colspan=9 | Legend:
 * colspan=9 | Legend:
 * colspan=9 | Legend:
 * colspan=9 | Legend: