PFL announces second-half event lineups following 9 fighters receiving drug test suspensions

The PFL is moving on amid an embarrassing situation.

Earlier this week, MMA Fighting reported that four of the league’s fighters — including former UFC standouts Thiago Santos and Krzysztof Jotko — tested positive for banned substances and have been removed from competing in the 2023 season, with extended suspensions expected to be handed out by the Nevada Athletic Commission on May 17.

The NAC agenda for the upcoming meeting includes light heavyweights Santos, Jotko, Will Fleury, and Mohammad Fakhreddine, as well as heavyweights Bruno Cappeloza, Rizvan Kuniev, and Cezar Ferreira. According to ESPN, featherweights Alejandro Flores and Daniel Torres have also been suspended, though their names were not included in the agenda for the upcoming meeting. The extension of these suspensions will prevent these fighters from finishing their 2023 campaigns.

The NAC has not officially stated why the listed fighters are facing suspension.

On Friday, the PFL announced its lineups for the second half of the season, with the above names noticeably absent.

See the updated cards for PFL 4 (June 8), PFL 5 (June 16), and PFL 6 (June 23), all of which take place at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, below.

PFL 4 — Men’s Featherweights and Light Heavyweights

Main Card (ESPN, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

• Brendan Loughnane vs. Jesus Pinedo
• Rob Wilkinson vs. Ty Flores
• Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Tyler Diamond
• Marthin Hamlet vs. Sam Kei
• Josh Silveira vs. Delan Monte

Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Bubba Jenkins vs. Jo Sungbin
• Marlon Moraes vs. Gabriel Braga
• Chris Wade vs. Ryoji Kudo
• Impa Kasanganay vs. Tim Caron
• Taylor Johnson vs. Andrew Sanchez
• Abigail Montes vs. Brandy Hester
• Alexei Pergande vs. Akeem Bashir

PFL 5 — Heavyweights and Women’s Featherweights

Main Card (ESPN, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

• Ante Delija vs. Maurice Greene
• Larissa Pacheco vs. Amber Leibrock
• Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Travell Miller
• Aspen Ladd vs. Karolina Sobek
• Renan Ferreira vs. Matheus Scheffel

Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Denis Goltsov vs. Yorgan De Castro
• Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Evelyn Martins
• Danilo Marques vs. Marcelo Nunes
• Julia Budd vs. Martina Jindrova
• Olena Kolesnyk vs. Yoko Higashi
• Patrick Brady vs. Jordan Heiderman
• Isaiah Pinson vs. Denzel Freeman

PFL 6 — Lightweights and Welterweights

Main Card (ESPN, ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

• Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Anthony Romero
• Sadibou Sy vs. Shane Mitchell
• Shane Burgos vs. Yamato Nishikawa
• Clay Collard vs. Stevie Ray

Preliminary Card (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)

• Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. David Zawada
• Magomed Umalatov vs. Nayib Lopez
• Natan Schulte vs. Raush Manfio
• Carlos Leal vs. Dilano Taylor
• Alexander Martinez vs. Bruno Miranda
• Jarrah Al Silawi vs. Cedric Doumbe
• Brahyan Zurcher vs. Mike Bardsley
• Abdullah Al Qahtani vs. Lamar Brown