Thiago Santos’ Power Reminded Rob Wilkinson of Initial Hesitation Regarding Move to 205

Rob Wilkinson is pleased with his victory over fellow Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Thiago Santos at 2023 PFL 1.

In his latest assignment, 2022 Professional Fighters League light heavyweight titleholder Wilkinson (18-2, 5-0 PFL) scored a dominant victory over Santos. While he didn’t finish his opponent for the first time in his PFL tenure, “Razor” heavily relied on his wrestling skills to cruise past Santos, taking home a well-deserved unanimous decision. After the fight, Wilkinson confessed fighters like “Marreta” were one of the reasons he thought very carefully before moving up from middleweight to light heavyweight. Santos is well-known for his knockout power, and Wilkinson had to carefully plan his move and understand how to better face fighters like that.

“It kind of hit me because, when I got released from the UFC and I was making the decision to move up to light heavyweight, he was one of the guys that I'd be watching, and he'd be knocking everyone out, and I was kind of like, ‘I don't want to go up and fight people like that. He's a scary man.’ It kind of hit me after that, at one point, he was a reason I was hesitant to go up to light heavyweight, and then I just fought and beat him. It was a cool experience.”

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:57) Commenting on his bruises from the fight
(01:28) Whether Santos hits as hard as people say
(02:28) Rating his performance
(03:19) Praising Santos as one of the best light heavyweights in the world
(04:09) Being proud of having defeated Santos
(04:55) Showcasing his wrestling skills again
(06:03) Whether he got a burger after the fight
(06:38) Celebrating his first seasonal victory
(07:37) Commenting on Israel Adesanya’s victory over Alex Pereira
(08:31) What’s next for him
(09:33) Outro