Wilkinson vs Santos

Who won Wilkinson vs Santos?

Rob Wilkinson beat Thiago Santos by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the co-main event of PFL 1, on Saturday 1st April 2023 at The Theater - Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Rob Wilkinson.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Light Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 205 pounds (14.6 stone or 93 KG).

Wilkinson vs Santos stats

Rob Wilkinson stepped into the octagon with a record of 17 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 9 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 7 by submission.

Thiago Santos made his way to the cage with a record of 22 wins, 11 losses and 0 draws, 15 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Rob Wilkinson's 9th fight in the PFL, having made his debut for the promotion in 2022. Thiago Santos marked his 3rd fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2023.

Rob Wilkinson's PFL record stood at 6-2-0, while Thiago Santos' came in at 0-2-0.

The stats suggested Santos had an advantage in power over Wilkinson, with a 68% knock out percentage over Wilkinson's 53%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Wilkinson had a massive advantage over Santos, boasting a 41% submission rate over Santos' 5%.

Rob Wilkinson was the younger man by 8 years, at 33 years old.

Wilkinson had a height advantage of 1 inch over Santos. That also extended to a 4-inch reach advantage.

Wilkinson was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 14 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2011, 10 months later than Santos, whose first professional fight was in 2010. He had fought 43 less professional rounds, 39 to Santos' 82.

Wilkinson vs Santos form

Rob Wilkinson had stopped 4 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had won against Omari Akhmedov at PFL 2022 #10 -World Championship on 25th November 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Hulu Theater, Madison Square Garden, New York, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Delan Monte at PFL 2022 #7 on 5th August 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Viktor Pesta at PFL 2022 #4 on 17th June 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Overtime Elite Arena, Atlanta.

Before that, he was victorious against Bruce Souto at PFL 2022 #1 on 20th April 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Esports Stadium Arlington, Arlington.

He had lost to Siyar Bahadurzada at UFC Fight Night 115 on 2nd September 2017 by knockout in the 2nd round at Ahoy Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Thiago Santos had beaten 1 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had been beaten by Yoel Romero at PFL vs. Bellator: CHAMPS on 24th February 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Previous to that, he had been defeated by Rob Wilkinson at PFL 1 on 1st April 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at The Theater - Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas, United States.

Going into that contest, he had lost to Jamahal Hill at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Hill on 6th August 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had been beaten by Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Fight Night on 12th March 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had won against Johnny Walker at UFC Vegas 38 on 2nd October 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

In of activity leading into the fight, Thiago Santos had been fighting more than Rob Wilkinson.

Going to this contest, Rob Wilkinson had last fought 2 years, 5 months and 28 days ago, while Thiago Santos' last outing had been 1 year, 2 months and 29 days ago.

Wilkinson's last 5 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 8 months and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 6 months and 18 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 8 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1.6 rounds on average.

Santos' last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 7 months and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 22 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 20 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Wilkinson vs Santos?

Rob Wilkinson was a 13/25 (-220) favourite going into the contest, while Thiago Santos made his way into the ring at 7/5 (+210) with oddsmakers.