The defending light heavyweight champion, Rob Wilkinson has been removed from his scheduled PFL 4 bout on June 8th. MMAMania.com confirmed with multiple sources that Wilkinson failed a drug test following his big win last time out over Thiago Santos.
The heavy-hitting Aussie was scheduled to face Ty Flores in the PFL 4 co-main event, however, will now miss the remainder of the 2023 season and be unable to recapture the belt he won last year. PFL 4 will still be headlined be headlined by defending featherweight champion, Brendan Loughnane, who takes on Jesus Pinedo. Flores will now face Dan Spohn.
Wilkinson’s suspension comes off the back of a huge win over Santos in the opening round of this year’s PFL 205lbs tournament. It casts a further dark shadow over the promotion as he becomes the tenth PFL competitor to pop for PEDs following the opening round of fights.
Wilkinson’s last opponent, Santos has also been suspended, alongside Krzysztof Jotko, Bruno Caoppelozza, Rizvan Kuniev and a whole host of others.
Krzystof Jotko
Rizvan Kuniev
Bruno Cappelloza
Mohammed Fakhreddine
Cezar Ferreira
Will Fleury
Daniel Torres
Thiago SantosPFL fighters up for temporary suspensions at the Nevada Commission hearing next week. https://t.co/wfb5ZxmK2J
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) May 11, 2023
It’s a difficult time for the PFL as they stole all the headlines for the right reasons recently with the signing of megastar, Francis Ngannou. With that being said, with multiple suspensions due to PED offences, they’re in a bad place with fans as it stands. The PFL have to do a better job of reducing the number of fighters that are popping for PEDs to remain a legitimate competitor to the UFC.
