Movlid Khaybulaev has been embroiled in controversy as of late, and an opponent that the now former PFL 2025 match champion confronted throughout his run this 12 months has spoken out. Khaybulaev examined constructive for the banned substance recombinant erythropoietin, with this empirical proof being gathered amid proceedings for his August championship win this Summer season.
With how he ended off the 2025 PFL featherweight run, Khaybulaev was initially a two-time PFL champion, however now, with the failed USADA take a look at, he has been stripped of his match title distinction. Khaybulaev was additionally stripped of the bodily belt, in addition to related bonuses by means of his total match effort.
Khaybulaev’s first struggle this calendar 12 months noticed him defeat Jeremy Kennedy in April by the use of a cut up determination contained in the PFL Smart Cage. The Canadian combatant has provided his ideas on these current happenings, which can preserve Movlid Khaybulaev out for a 12 months, backdated to August 1st when the pattern was collected. In a textual content message trade with Dylan Bowker of MMA Canada, Kennedy stated [via MMA Canada],
“Yeah, man and EPO of all issues… in the event you have a look at our struggle and the way he was in a position to get better from being rocked a number of instances and preserve that tempo, it’s irritating figuring out I used to be combating at a drawback. With the stakes being so excessive and the distinction of what profitable that struggle would have accomplished financially, and this not being the primary time competing towards a cheat. I feel there must be a stricter punishments for stuff like that. Only a 12 months suspension is fairly loopy.”
“One of many first issues I stated after that struggle as a take away was how properly he recovered from being damage, and the way he was in a position to preserve his gasoline tank. Each issues EPO helps tremendously with.”
Movlid Khaybulaev additionally receives pushback from a fighter he beat in his first-ever pFL match title win
Movlid Khaybulaev additionally drew the ire of a prolific PFL identify based mostly out of the UK that shares in-cage historical past with the now disgraced former 2025 champ. Khaybulaev’s preliminary PFL featherweight championship win got here in 2021, and on that path, he bested Brendan Loughnane within the semi-finals with two verdicts in his favour from the three assigned struggle judges.
On his official X account, sounding off on this current PED failure from the 35-year-old Russian, Loughnane acknowledged,
“This struggle actually price me tens of millions of {dollars}. Misplaced a cut up determination to a recognized cheater. Sport is wild.”
The official assertion on this matter from the Professional Fighters League was put out on their official X account and might be seen under.
