Bruno Cappelozza, the 2021 PFL heavyweight champion, no longer will compete on the season-opening fight card April 4, the promotion announced on social media Tuesday.
Cappelozza was scheduled to fight Sergey Bilostenniy on the main card in San Antonio, but the PFL posted on X that he has been replaced by Blagoy Ivanov. No reason was given for Cappelozza’s removal.
The league also announced that former UFC women’s flyweight title challenger Taila Santos has a new opponent for her PFL debut that night. Santos will now fight Ilara Joanne instead of Denise Kielholtz.
A third scheduled fight between flyweights Kaytlin Neil and Sumiko Inaba was removed from the card entirely.
Cappelozza made it to the 2022 PFL playoffs in a bid to repeat as champion, but he was injured prior to the semifinal round and dropped out. His 2023 season was cut short by a suspension after he tested positive for an anabolic steroid. He returned to action last month for a light heavyweight bout against former Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov and lost by submission.
The PFL did not announce whether any of the fighters dropping off the card will return later in the season.