2022 champion Rob Wilkinson welcomes Thiago Santos to PFL this April
Rob Wilkinson vs. Thiago Santos booked
The Professional Fighters League returns to us this coming April for three back-to-back-to-back events beginning on April 1 for PFL 1, followed up by PFL 2 on April 7, before PFL 3 goes down a week later on April 14.
As it currently stands, there are two fights booked for each event thus far, the first of which coming at PFL 1 where a pair of 2022 champions return to the cage.
The first bout slated to go down at PFL 1 comes between 2022 light-heavyweight champion Rob Wilkinson (17-2) and debuting former UFC light-heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos (22-11).
Rob Wilkinson has done very well for himself as of late, winning his last six-straight fights following a short 0-2 stint in the UFC. Notice he’s 17-2 as a professional, and considering the former statement, he’s 17-0 outside of UFC competition. He has also ventured out and gone 1-0 in boxing, as well as 2-0 in kickboxing in this time.
Wilkinson’s most recent defeat comes to former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, and in his time with PFL he’s defeated UFC veterans such as Dylan Andrews, Viktor Pesta, and Omari Akhmedov.
Thiago Santos on the other hand has hit a bit of a rough patch over his last handful of appearances, going 1-5 over his last six following a three-fight win, and three-fight knockout streak to begin his light-heavyweight tenure following a middleweight run.
This began with a split decision defeat to Jon Jones in his light-heavyweight title fight, a fight many believed he won. Santos tore all four ligaments in his knee during the first round of this encounter however, and he was forced out of action for over a year afterward considering.
Following that fight, Santos would be submitted by future, now former champion Glover Teixeira in a fight he nearly won via knockout multiple times, he lost a unanimous decision to Aleksandar Rakic, he defeated Johnny Walker via unanimous decision, then lost his last two bouts to Magomed Ankalaev (UD) and new UFC light-heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill (TKO).
Now Santos goes into his PFL debut against the best light-heavyweight they have on their roster.
Both of these men are former middleweights, and both are finishers, with 16 of Wilkinson’s wins coming via finish (9 knockouts, 7 submissions), and Santos too coming in with 16 finishes (15 knockouts, 1 submission).
Who wins this epic light-heavyweight encounter going down at PFL 1?
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