British standout Mo Abdurahman (24-6, 14 KO's) has been moved up into the starting line-up of the GLORY 43 NEW YORK Featherweight Contender Tournament following the withdrawal of Canada's Matt 'Matics' Embree due to injury.
Embree sustained the injury two weeks ago and had been hoping that he would be able to work through it and still take part in the tournament on July 14. With no improvement to the injury, however, he has been forced to withdraw.
Abdurahman was due to fight in a tournament reserve bout against Chenchen Li of China. He earned himself a GLORY contract by winning an eight-man 'Road to Glory' tournament in the UK earlier this year.
Having accepted the move up into the tournament starting grid, Abdurahman will find himself facing off against the USA's Kevin Vannostrand in the semi-final stage. The other bracket of the four-man competition has Giga Chikadze facing Alexey Ulianov of Russia.
“With 14 of his 26 career victories coming inside the distance, Abdurahman has developed a reputation as a knockout artist and at just 21 years of age, looks to be a bright prospect for the future,” remarked GLORY matchmaker Cor Hemmers.
Chenchen Li remains on the card as a reserve fighter for the tournament. He will face late-notice addition Justin 'J-Ho' Houghton of the USA, with the winner stepping in to fight in the final should either of the two victorious semi-final fighters be too injured to move forward and fight in the final that same night.
GLORY 43 NEW YORK takes place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Friday, July 14 and features an interim light-heavyweight title fight between Saulo Cavalari and Pavel Zhuravlev.
