The 2023 season of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) got off to a tough start.
The promotion’s opening light heavyweight matchup was held in Las Vegas as the year’s first seasonal event. Unfortunately, his time in the city wasn’t the smoothest as nine fighters tested positive for banned substances and were suspended. Immediately after the failure, PFL hired the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to regulate its drug testing protocols.
Suspensions removed the players from the tournament and the deck was shuffled at 205 pounds, with five of nine matches failing. Among them was Ireland’s Will Fleury, a former middleweight before joining the PFL. Fleury unsuccessfully used drostanolone and initially won a split decision over Krzysztof Jotko, who also tested positive for drostanolone. The result was a no-contest, and both men were fined $3,071 and suspended for nine months.
“I was purposely taking steroids to gain weight and gain an edge, and I felt that I would be fighting excited guys. That turned out to be the case,” Fleury said. told MMA. “The guy I fought was juiced, the guy I was trying to fight was juiced. You can justify it all you want, but I committed a crime. I served the sentence. Here. I’m here.
“I was offered the chance to move to light heavyweight by the PFL and at first I said no,” he continued. “I train with a lot of light heavyweights, but I wasn’t that big. At my heaviest, I was around 95-96 kg (209-211 lbs). I think he was strong at that weight, but he wasn’t particularly lean or toned. He was in good shape around 1992-1993.
Fleury, 35, parted company with the PFL following the incident and suspension, but notable fighters such as Thiago Santos and former light heavyweight champion Rob Wilkinson remain on the roster.
As previously mentioned, Fleury initially rejected the opportunity to change ranks. The lack of a middleweight season in the PFL ultimately helped make his decision, and he accepts that. Fleury returns to action this weekend (Saturday, April 20, 2024) against Daniel Shkvor in a light heavyweight contest at Octagon 56.
“A week later, I had a chance to move up to light heavyweight. My first fight was at middleweight, and then I had eight months to move up to light heavyweight and move on to a $1 million tournament,” Fleury said. Told. “So I had to leave, and at the time I was like, ‘Okay.’” We have to consider doing something here.
“I thought, ‘Damn,’ I’m not going to have a better chance of getting financial security out of this, and I’ll probably never get an opportunity like this again,” he continued. “Going to light heavyweight was a no-brainer for me, but I made that decision and I did it.
“I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t have to move up, but there are a lot of guys in the middleweight division who are working just as hard,” Fleury concluded. “If you had eyes and you watched that damn sport, you could see a lot of things, right? That’s the reality.”
For the latest PFL and Bellator MMA news and notes, click here and here.
