Rob Wilkinson defeats Omari Akhmedov in PFL Final
Tasmanian cage fighter Rob “Razor” Wilkinson is now a world champion and a millionaire after pummelling his opponent at Madison Square Garden in New York City. We’ve spoken to his camp after the big win.
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TASMANIAN fighter Rob Wilkinson has completed his rise from Hobart battler to one of the world’s elite mixed martial artists with a smashing defeat of Russian Omari Akhmedov to claim the Professional Fighters League light heavyweight championship and a monster $1.5m payday.
In the biggest bout of his life, the 30-year-old from the Apple Isle lit up the Big Apple with a commanding second round TKO on Saturday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
“The million dollars is awesome but this belt is something I’ve been dreaming of for 10 years,” Wilkinson said after the contest.
“It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of work behind the scenes to get here, but it’s come quickly as eight months ago I signed with the PFL, and now I’m a world champion baby.”
Wilkinson, who trains out of Hobart’s Hybrid Training Centre, put on a show for the group of family and friends in attendance as he knocked his opponent from pillar to post before being awarded a career-defining victory.
The bout was stopped by doctors at the end of the second round due to bleeding cuts on the face of his Russian opponent.
Wilkinson landed a brutal 99 strikes while receiving just 37 at the hands of the tough but ultimately outclassed Akhmedov.
Wilkinson is Australia’s first PFL champion and capped off a sizzling debut in the major US promotion with his fourth win from four fights.
After losing to UFC champion Israel Adesanya in 2018, Wilkinson said on Saturday he had learnt a valuable lesson as he repositioned himself in the profession.
“I’ve been grinding away behind the scenes for a long time ever since I got released from the UFC,” he said.
“I took a really big lesson from Israel and their coaching, they didn’t sign to the UFC until they were ready to go straight to the top.
“And that’s what I kept telling myself through the four years of fighting on local scenes, waiting for Covid to get over, and grinding away, because I knew my opportunity would come and I was going to go straight to the top … and that’s what I f. ing did.”
Hybrid Training Centre co-owner Jeremy Green was one the Tasmanians who made the trek to New York to cheer Wilkinson on from ringside.
He was just metres away as his close friend fulfilled a lifelong dream.
“The whole experience was just amazing,” Mr Green told the Sunday Tasmanian.
“Walking into Madison Square Garden, the most famous arena in the world, was iconic and then watching Rob in his element and just knowing he was about to win a world title was incredible.
“He’s worked so hard for so long and deserved it so much.
“The joy and the pure happiness on his face was amazing to see and feel.”
Mr Green the Wilkinson camp and his Tassie contingent would celebrate deep into the night.
Wilkinson will take a short holiday in the US and Mexico before heading home to spend Christmas in Tasmania.
Hobart fighter ready for life changing $1.5m world title fight
HIS gruelling 10-week training camp is over and now it’s time for business as Tasmanian cage fighter Rob ‘Razor’ Wilkinson prepares for the biggest fight of his life with a monster payday and a world title on the line at arguably the world’s most famous arena.
On Saturday the 30-year-old from Hobart will step into the cage inside the famed Madison Square Garden in New York City against Russian ‘Wolverine’ Omari Akhmedov where he’ll be looking to cap off his dominant debut year in the Professional Fighters League (PFL) with the biggest victory of his career.
If the mixed martial arts star, who trains out of Hobart’s Hybrid Training Centre, can continue his reign of terror on the PFL with a victory then not only will he claim the 2022 PFL Light Heavyweight World Championship, but he’ll become an instant millionaire with a winner’s purse of a cool $1.5m on the line.
Holding a professional record of 16-2, with his only two losses coming in 2017 and 2018 fighting in the UFC in his less preferred middleweight division, Wilkinson will enter Saturday’s matchup as the favourite after three destructive wins on his way to the world title fight.
On the eve of the bout, the 191cm, 93kg Tasmanian bull said there was no doubting it was a life-changing event.
“It’s definitely by far the biggest fight of my career and while most fighters often say their next fight is their biggest, this fight has everything on the line for me,” Wilkinson said.
“Once you’ve become a world champion no one can take that away from you and once you’ve won that it opens up a lot of doors with sponsorships and partnerships and then the prize money is obviously huge and it trumps anything I’ve even been paid by a long way.”
While some could be expected to lash out if they became a millionaire overnight, Wilkinson said he would use the money as an opportunity to set himself up for when his brutal fighting career comes to end.
“It’s a huge amount of money and if I win I’ll be looking to invest that into either a house for me to live in back in Tassie or an investment property,” he said.
“I started training when I was 17 and competing since I was 19 and you don’t make much money and I don’t do it for the money but it would be very nice to have a big payday to show that hard work and be able to put that towards a house and kind of start setting myself up for the rest of my life.”
The light-heavyweight said he would enter the bout in great spirits after a tough training camp- one which included a strict diet in the final days while consuming more than 10 litres of water a day combined with long sauna sessions to make sure he cut down to the required 93kg weight.
“I don’t really get too nervous but there’s times where they kick in a bit like the weigh in or the face off or on the day of the fight but nerves are good as this is a big thing,” he said.
“But I’m not letting the nerves overwhelm me as it’s more about the excitement and that’s the way I view it.
Wilkinson said a number of family and friends had travelled from the Apple Isle to the Big Apple and that he was confident he could put on a show under the bright lights of New York City.
“I’ve visualised the fight a lot in the last couple of weeks and I run through my head all the different things that could happen in the fight but one thing is it always ends with me winning and me getting my hand raised at the end.
“This guy I’m fighting is very experienced but I picture myself getting a knockout, maybe not as early as the other fights, but I’ll knock him out within three rounds,” he said.
Wilkinson said following the fight he planned to spend some more time in New York City with friends before a quick trip to Mexico with his partner Paris on their way home to Hobart for the summer.
Wilkinson and Akhmedov will battle on Saturday as the first event on the main card set to start at midday (AEDT).
The fight can be viewed on Stan Sport from 9am Saturday with Wilkinson’s fight the first on the main card set to start at midday (AEDT)
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