Rob Wilkinson (born 22 February 1992) is an Australian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who competes in the

Light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

division of

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 ...

(PFL), where he won the championship in 2022. A professional competitor since 2011, he previously competed in the

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

division of the

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

and was the middleweight champion in

Australian Fighting Championship Australian Fighting Championship (AFC) was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation based in Melbourne. In 2013, AFC was described as Australia's leading MMA organisation by MMA Kanvas and was part of Sherdog's list of top 50 global ...

and

BRACE Brace (formerly known as ''Brace For War'') was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Brace was founded in 2005 by Kya Pate. In an interview with MMA Kanvas Kya Pate detailed what it is like to be the promoter of Australian MMA. Si ...

Background

Wilkinson was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, 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 YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American mixed martial arts commentator, actor, former United States Army sergeant, former professional mixed martial artist, and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestlin ...

which he instantly fell in love with the sport.

Mixed martial arts career

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

middleweight title and

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 Siyar Bahadurzada (; born 17 April 1984) is a retired Afghan-born Dutch mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, making him the first Afghan to compete in the promotion. He currently w ...

. He lost the fight via TKO in round two, handing him his first career loss. Wilkinson faced

Israel Adesanya Israel Mobolaji Temitayo Odunayo Oluwafemi Owolabi Adesanya (born 22 July 1989) is a Nigerian-New Zealand professional mixed martial artist, former kickboxer and boxer. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the Middleweight di ...

on 11 February 2018 at

UFC 221 ''UFC 221: Romero vs. Rockhold'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on February 11, 2018, at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. Background While the UFC has hosted 11 previous events across t ...

. 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 Dylan Andrews (born 15 November 1979) is a mixed martial artist from New Zealand who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Absolute Championship Berkut. A professional competitor since 2006, he has formerly competed in the UFC, ...

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.

Professional Fighters League

2022 Season

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

Viktor Pešta Viktor Pešta (; born July 15, 1990) is a Czech Republic, Czech mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight (MMA), Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). He is currently ranked #6 in the Konfrontacja ...

on 17 June 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 5 August 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 Omari Sirazhudinovich Akhmedov (born October 12, 1987) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. He previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Professional Fighters ...

on 25 November 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 Thiago de Lima Santos (born January 7, 1984) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Santos competed in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and in the Ultimate Fighting Champ ...

on 1 April 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 8 June 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 Tom Breese (born 26 September 1991) is an English mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Profession ...

on 12 April 2024 at PFL 2. He won the fight by first-round technical knockout with a knee and punches. Wilkinson faced Josh Silveira in his next bout at PFL 5 on 21 June 2024, winning the close bout via split decision. Wilkinson faced

Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (; ; born 22 May 1989) is a Turkmenistani mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Professional Fighters League (PFL), where he is the current light heavyweight champion. He h ...

in the semifinals of the 2024 Light Heavyweight tournament on 16 August 2024 at PFL 8. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

2025 Tournament

On March 4, 2025, the promotion officially revealed that Wilkinson will join the 2025 PFL Light Heavyweight Tournament. In the quarterfinal, Wilkinson faced Phil Davis on May 1, 2025, at PFL 4. He lost the fight by technical knockout in the second round.

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.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** 2022 PFL Light Heavyweight Championship *

** AFC Middleweight Championship (One time) *

** BRACE Middleweight Championship (One time) *Hex Fight Series ** Hex Fight Series Light Heavyweight Championship (one time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, , Phil Davis , TKO (punches) , PFL 4 (2025) , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:51 ,

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Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

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, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Alexander Poppeck , Submission (rear-naked choke) , EuroFC 01 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:51 ,

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, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Jamie Abdallah , TKO (punches) , Australia FC 15 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:07 ,

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Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Rick Alchin , TKO (elbows) , Brace For War 28 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:16 ,

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, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Kitt Campbell , Submission (triangle choke) , Brace For War 27 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:32 ,

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Benjamin Kelleher Benjamin Karl Kelleher (born Auckland New Zealand 18 August 1987) is a New Zealand-born Australian combat sports fighter where he competes in professional boxing, MMA fighting, kickboxing and Muay Thai boxing. Kelleher has fought over 80 times ...

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Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

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Professional boxing record

Kickboxing record

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, , KO , , 2 , , 1:28 , - , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Rob Living people 1992 births Martial artists from Sydney Sportspeople from Hobart Sportsmen from New South Wales Sportsmen from Tasmania Australian male mixed martial artists Doping cases in mixed martial arts Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Australian male kickboxers Australian male boxers Australian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Australian sportspeople in doping cases 21st-century Australian sportsmen