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 as in favor of 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 loses 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 loses and 0 draws, with 15 of those wins by knock out and 1 by submission.

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 at 41% submission rate over Santos' 5%.

Rob Wilkinson was the younger man by 8 years, at 31 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 48 less professional rounds, 30 to Santos' 78.

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 won against 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 beat Viktor Pesta at PFL 2022 #4 on 17th June 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Overtime Elite Arena, Atlanta.

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

He had been beaten by 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 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, United States.

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

Going into that contest, 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.

Before that, he had been beaten by Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 259 on 6th March 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had lost to Glover Teixeira at UFC Vegas 13 on 7th November 2020 by submission in the 3rd round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Activity check

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

Going to this contest, Rob Wilkinson had last fought 9 months and 29 days ago, while Thiago Santos' last outing had been 1 year, 1 month and 17 days ago.

Wilkinson's last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years and 21 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 2 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 2 years, 10 months and 16 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 6 months and 29 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.