With eleven days to go before GLORY 44 CHICAGO takes place, the centerpiece Welterweight Contender Tournament lineup undergoes a switch.
Casey ‘Go’ Greene (pictured) has been forced to withdraw from his semi-final bout with Antoine Pinto (131-36-1, 77 KO’s) after suffering an injury during a recent training session.
His place is being taken by Zach Bunnell, who sports a 5-2 record as a professional and a 10-2 record in amateur competition. Fighting out of Reno, Nevada, Bunnell has a background in Muay Thai and also competes in MMA.
Bunnell started training in MMA during his high school years, but only because he didn't have immediate access to a Muay Thai gym in his home town of Reno.
Once one opened, he switched to Muay Thai training and Bunnell abandoned his 6-1 MMA career to pursue his true passion. Training sojourns in Thailand complemented his work in his home gym and he has also fought in Thailand several times.
By coincidence, Pinto is coming all the way from Thailand to fight him in Chicago next week. Pinto was born in France but raised largely in Thailand following the relocation of his family there when he was a small boy.
Pinto has over one hundred Muay Thai bouts to his name but is new to fighting under kickboxing rules. He made his GLORY debut at GLORY 38 CHICAGO earlier this year and won a unanimous decision over local favorite Richard Abraham
The four-man Welterweight Contender Tournament is completed by Karim Benmansour and Harut Grigorian in the other semi-final bracket. The two semi-final winners will then face off later in the evening to determine an overall winner.
GLORY 44 CHICAGO takes place Friday, August 25 at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Chicago, Illinois and features world welterweight champion Cedric Doumbé in the main event. He defends his title against Murthel ‘The Predator’ Groenhart.
GLORY 44 Chicago will be carried live on ESPN3 at 11 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT on Friday, Aug. 25.
Tickets for GLORY 44 Chicago and GLORY 44 SuperFight Series are on sale now, available for online purchase at searscentre.com and at the Sears Centre Arena box office.
