What would you do with one million dollars?
Rob Wilkinson, a light heavyweight fighter from Hobart with a crooked nose and a trademark moustache, might buy a car. A house.
The Tasmanian mixed martial artist has had the best part of a year to think about it. Now he is two weeks from turning it into reality as he prepares for this year’s Professional Fighters League finale at the Hulu Theater in New York City on November 26 [AEDT].
Twelve fighters will arrive hunting their share of $6 million. To the winner of each weight division’s tournament final goes $1 million.
Wilkinson could rise from relative obscurity to become one of Australia’s richest fighters if he beats Omari Akhmedov in the light heavyweight final, on a card featuring one of the sport’s most dominant fighters in Kayla Harrison, who chases her third PFL championship when she faces Larissa Pacecho in the women’s lightweight final.
So how does it feel to be so close – in a sport where seven-figure paydays are incredibly rare – to such a life-changing sum?
Rob Wilkinson is preparing for the biggest fight of his career.Credit:PFL/Getty
“I’ve thought about it a bit. For me, the world title means more. That’s the goal I set myself 10 or 11 years ago, to be a world champion, so that means everything to me,” Wilkinson told the Herald.
“But then obviously the money is amazing. It’s nice to actually start earning some money from all the hard work I’ve been doing over the last 10 years. I haven’t been making much money. I’m looking at buying a home, I’d like to set myself up with a house and be mortgage free at a young age.
“I can’t be doing this forever and I believe the next five years will be my prime, so I really want to make the most out of that with my fighting and save as much money as I can to set myself up.
“Already this year, I’ve made more money than I’ve ever made in any fights before. Last year, I fought for an Australian title and I got paid $2000 for that, so it’s a bit of a jump.”
The PFL uses a tournament structure including a regular season, semi-finals and a final. It resembles a football season more so than a regular fighter’s year-round schedule. Fighters earn points for wins – and bonus points for a knockout or submission finish – with the four highest-ranked competitors advancing to the semi-finals.
Wilkinson has been unstoppable since joining the PFL. Each of his two regular season bouts and his semi-final ended via stoppage. Only one of his opponents made it into the second round.
The 30-year-old is unbeaten since 2018. The last man to beat him? UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who stopped Wilkinson inside two rounds at UFC 221 in Perth.
It was Wilkinson’s second stoppage loss in as many UFC appearances, enough for the promotion to cut him loose. So he bounced around kickboxing rings in Tasmania, with even a boxing match sprinkled among his next MMA forays.
Rob Wilkinson has been on a tear since joining the PFL.Credit:PFL/Getty
Soon the PFL came calling. Now Wilkinson boasts an 18-2 record with 15 stoppage victories, and while we’re on it, “most of those have been in the first round”.
“Now I feel like I’m at the level where I am one of the best in the world,” Wilkinson said.
“I believe I’ll re-sign and do another year with PFL. That’s what I’m visualising at the moment, to go back-to-back and win it two years in a row. I want to end back up with the UFC. PFL are awesome but the UFC is the bigger promotion. I could be a world champion in the PFL but I probably still won’t be considered the best in the world like the light heavyweight champion in the UFC would be.
“It gets to me that I fought there twice and lost two fights. I definitely want to get back there and prove I belong at the top with those guys.”
Watch Wilkinson v Akhmedov in the PFL light heavyweight championship finale live on Stan on Saturday, November 26. New customers can sign up to a Stan free trial.
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