Omari Akhmedov plans to win the PFL 2022 light heavyweight championship by defeating Rob Wilkinson on the pay-per-view (PPV) main card this Fri. night (Nov. 25, 2022) at Hulu Theater from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Each PFL champion will leave “The Empire State” with a $1 million purse, which should be enough to help Akhmedov open his own coffee shop in Florida. A daunting task, but probably cheaper than shopping at Starbucks on a daily basis.
And butt-kicking baristas are all the rage these days.
“I want this belt, I’m training very hard,” Akhmedov told reporters during a recent PFL media day. “My opponent is very good. Good puncher, very hard, very strong, bigger. … I see that I’m a little bit faster in this one. He’s strong, good boxing, but he don’t fight three rounds. I will make him fight more long. Yeah [I want the million dollars] but more I want a belt. I want to maybe [open] small business in my home. Maybe here [in Florida] I don’t know. One coffee [shop] … we will see.”
Let’s hope his first commercial looks something like this.
The 35 year-old Akhmedov (24-7-1) went undefeated in the promotion’s 2022 season, racking up three straight wins with two nasty finishes. That includes last August’s unanimous decision victory over Joshua Silveira in the light heavyweight playoffs.
As for Wilkinson, 30, he’s looking to capture his fifth straight win after laying waste to Brazilian bruiser Delan Monte his last time out. The 16-2 “Razor” holds an impressive 15 finishes in 16 wins and hasn’t seen the judges’ scorecards in nearly a decade.
The PFL 2022 finals, headlined by the lightweight championship between Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pacheco, air LIVE at 8 p.m. ET on Fri. night via ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV).