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Rob Wilkinson has not endeared himself to the MMA world, as evidenced by Sean O'Connell finding humor in the former's history with performance-enhancing drugs. O'Connell, one of many fighters-turned-commentators, was in the broadcast booth for PFL 2 yesterday.
While on air, O'Connell spoke about Wilkinson's positive steroid tests, one of which led to a 9-month suspension that left him sidelined for most of 2023. Specifically, O'Connell inquired about whether he could quiz Wilkinson on them following the latter's knockout over Tom Breese.
"Can I ask him about his steroids... where he got them?"
Check out Sean O'Connell joking about Rob Wilkinson's steroid history (0:11):
Wilkinson's past with performance-enhancing drugs is highly controversial. At PFL 1 in 2023, he took on former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos. He had initially won the bout via unanimous decision, but the result was subsequently overturned to a no-contest after adverse findings on a PED test.
The results of Wilkinson's PED test revealed elevated testosterone levels in relation to the estrogen in his body. Furthermore, the origin of the elevated testosterone was found to have been exogenous. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only incident revolving around Wilkinson.
Again, in 2023, he was scheduled to face Will Fleury in June at PFL 4. However, Fleury failed a pre-fight drug test, causing him to be replaced by Ty Flores. Though in a stunning turn of events, Wilkinson also failed a pre-fight drug test and was removed from the rest of the 2023 season and fined for his wrongdoing.
Rob Wilkinson had a short-lived UFC career
Rob Wilkinson's brief stint under the UFC banner has been largely forgotten because he is a name that often flies under the radar. After all, he only participated in two fights, lasting less than a year in the promotion. He first took on Siyar Bahadurzada in his promotional debut, losing via unanimous decision.
Then, in his sophomore fight, he took on promotional debutant and future UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who TKO'd him within two rounds. After that, Wilkinson was released from the promotion and subsequently found a new home in the PFL.
