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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.”

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

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