Shane Oblonsky has a new opponent for the GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES Featherweight Contender Tournament.
He was originally set to face former WEC champion Miguel Torres in the semi-final stage of the four-man tournament.
Torres has now withdrawn from the tournament. His place has been taken by Marcus ‘Baiano’ Vinicius of Brazil.
Vinicius, ranked #8 in the featherweight division, fought in the eight-man tournament which took place at GLORY 8 TOKYO in May last year.
He was matched with world #1 Mosab Amrani in the quarterfinal stages and lost a decision, eliminating him from the competition.
Now he has the chance to insert himself into the division’s top tier if he can win the Featherweight Contender Tournament in Los Angeles on June 21.
The winners of Contender tournaments earn a spot in their division’s next World Championship Tournament, which features the top fighters in the weight class and has the World Championship Title on the line.
Oblonsky, of California, has the same opportunity, as do the other two tournament participants, Gabriel Varga of Canada and Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai of Thailand.
All four are world-class kickboxers and looking for their chance to break into the upper half of the Top Ten rankings.
GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES airs live on SPIKE TV on Saturday June 21 and will be followed immediately afterwards by the GLORY: LAST MAN STANDING pay-per-view event.
That card - which has been described as “the most stacked card in kickboxing history” - has three world titles on the line.
An eight-man middleweight tournament will determine a champion for that division, while Marc De Bonte defends the welterweight title against ‘Bazooka’ Joe Valtellini of Canada.
Headlining the card is a heavyweight title fight between #1-ranked Daniel Ghita and #2-ranked Rico Verhoeven, his former training partner turned bitter rival.
