Bart Palaszewski vs Anthony Njokuani announced for WEC 40

Former International Fight League (IFL) standout Bart "Bartimus" Palaszewski (30-12) has been tapped to fill in for the injured Anthony Pettis to take on Anthony Njokuani (9-2) in an undercard lightweight bout at WEC 40: "Torres vs. Mizugaki," which will emanate from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Ill., on Sunday, April 5.

Pettis apparently broke his hand during training and will not have sufficient time to heal the injury.

Palaszewski made his second appearance for the promotion earlier this month at WEC 39: "Brown vs. Garcia," getting outpointed on the judges scorecards by newcomer Ricardo Lamas. The Team Curran-trained fighter is no doubt looking to erase the fans' memory of that loss by jumping back into action as soon as possible and getting a win.

"Bartimus" steps in with just 10 days notice to train for Njokuani, which is typically not a good idea to take a fight on a stage as big as the WEC with such a short amount of time to prepare.

Njokuani is also coming off a loss in his WEC debut. The Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, resident was submitted in the second round with a guillotine choke by Benson Henderson at WEC 38: "Varner vs. Cerrone." His only other career loss was to Greg Jackson trainee -- and one of the current top contenders in the WEC lightweight division -- Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.

WEC 40 will be the first trip to the "Windy City" for the promotion. Headlining the event will be Chi-town area native Miguel "Angel" Torres defending his 135-pound bantamweight title against Japanese import Takeya Mizugaki (who is filling in for an injured Brian Bowles).

The main card will air live on the Versus network, beginning at 9 p.m. ET on fight night. MMAmania.com will provide live coverage of the action beginning with the Versus telecast and will bring you up to the minute results of the under card as well.

For more on the WEC 40 fight card click here.