Teemu Packalen has suffered an injury and has been pulled from UFC Fight Night St. Petersburg, replacing him against Alexander Yakovlev according to Combate is Alex Da Silva.
Yakovlev (23-8-1) will enter the contest while in the midst of a two fight losing streak, dropping bouts to the duo of Kamaru Usman and Zak Cummings. Yakovlev is also returning to action for the first time in two years, with his last bout happening in November of 2016. Yakovlev has suffered eight losses as a professional MMA fighter, but he has yet to be beaten by way of KO/TKO.
Da Silva (20-1-0) is going to be making his UFC debut in this fight and does so on the strength of a two bout winning streak. Da Silva hasn’t suffered a defeat in almost two years, with that last loss coming against Jakub Kowalewicz at Brave 5. Da Silva has competed twenty one times as a professional MMA fighter and only one bout has gone the distance.
UFC Fight Night St. Petersburg takes place on Saturday, April 20 from the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia with Aleksei Oleinik and Alistair Overeem headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on ESPN+.
