Rob Wilkinson eyeing million-dollar PFL hat-trick

Rob Wilkinson might be a million dollars richer but you needn't worry about the Australian light heavyweight's desire to win another world title.

"I had two weeks off and feel very sluggish and kind of shitty," Wilkinson said.

So back to training he went, but you could argue he'd earned those two weeks.

Wilkinson is the little-known mixed martial artist from Tasmania who rose from relative obscurity to win the Professional Fighters League's light heavyweight tournament, and with it came a world championship belt and a lazy $1 million payday.

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Seven-figure cheques in MMA are incredibly rare, but Wilkinson earned his when he stopped Omari Akhmedov in New York this past November. It was his fourth win of the year, in a promotion operating with a program resembling something more like a football season than a regular fighter's schedule.

PFL tournament winners earn $1 million USD - "definitely a hell of a lot more money than I've ever had before" - money Wilkinson planned to put towards a house to set himself up for life after fighting. This, of course, isn't a game you want to stay in forever.

For now, Wilkinson now has two years to run on his PFL deal, giving him the chance to shoot for a hat-trick of tournament victories, after which he could dip his toes into the waters of free agency, and perhaps, the UFC.

The only blemishes on his 17-2 professional record came in the world's leading MMA promotion, one of those to former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

So how does it feel to be a world champion with more money in the bank than ever before?

"Nothing really changes ... You're still just yourself," Wilkinson said.

"It's nice having that belt and it is so good hearing how excited people are for you but it makes me even more keen to get back into training and do it again.

"Kayla Harrison was the lightweight champion two years in a row and then she lost in the final. I think that would have been the first person to do it three times and she was a huge favourite. That's my goal now, do it three times in a row and then be a free agent and see what happens after that.

"Literally my last MMA fight before the PFL was for $2000 for a title. After that I had a few more boxing fights and got some offers for like $8000. I was thinking 'Maybe I'll stick to boxing for a little while if I can't get any MMA fights'. I was very glad to sign with the PFL."

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