Santos, Three Others Fail PFL Drug Tests

Following their respective outings to kick off the 2023 PFL Season in Las Vegas, four MMA fighters (two of which are UFC veterans) were flagged for banned substances and drew temporary suspensions.

Former UFC light heavyweights Thiago Santos and Krzysztof Jotko, along with PFL mainstays Bruno Cappelozza and Rizvan Kuniev, all tested positive for banned substances and drew temporary suspensions from Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), pending full hearings at some point over the next few weeks.

MMA Fighting first reported the news on Tuesday.

“This is not the full story,” Fansided MMA reporter Amy Kaplan wrote on Twitter. “I have been working on this story for weeks. Expect more names shortly. Fans need to remember that PFL’s format is different, meaning their entire roster fights over a three week period, not spread out over a year or more. The amount of people flagging seems like a lot (it is) but it’s partly due to the three cards in three weeks.”

As a result, expect major changes to the current 2023 PFL tournament.

Santos and Jotko were both scheduled to compete at the upcoming PFL 4 event on June 8 in Atlanta, which means their respective opponents, Mohammad Fakhreddine and Ty Flores, will need to be rebooked, or simply remain on the card and agree to fight one another. PFL has yet to comment on any of the recent developments.

Cappelozza and Kuniev were unbooked at the time of this report.