By Andreas Georgiou
Danyo Ilunga is set to replace Artem Vakhitov in the GLORY 18 Light-Heavyweight contender tournament on November 7in Oklahoma, USA.
The Russian fighter was forced to withdraw from the event with a minor injury, which has prevented him from being able to complete a full training camp.
The news broke on LiverKick earlier today, and despite Vakhitov being a high profile name missing from the show, his replacement has an equal amount of drawing power.
Ilunga, 27, is a former It’s Showtime -95kg champion and is ranked number one in the GLORY 209lb division, having won six out of seven of his promotional fights. His only loss is to former champion Tyrone Spong at GLORY 9.
Now, coming off two first round stoppages against Michael Duut and Andrei Stoica, the German-Congolese fighter adds flavour to an already stacked tournament.
His opponent is the deadly Brazilian Saulo Cavalari who sits third in the GLORY divisional rankings. The opposing semi-final is Zack Mwekassa vs Brian Collette.
GLORY 18: Main Card
Tournament Final Bout: Semifinal Bout A Winner vs. Semifinal Bout B Winner
Headline Lightweight Title Bout: Davit Kiria © vs. Robin van Roosmalen
Middleweight Co-Headline Bout: Wayne Barrett vs. Jason Wilnis
Light-Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Bout A: Saulo Cavalari vs. Danyo Ilunga
Light-Heavyweight Tournament Semifinal Bout B: Brian Collette vs. Zack Mwekassa
GLORY SUPERFIGHT SERIES:
Superfight Series
Omari Boyd vs. Ian Alexander
Josh Jauncey vs. Jae-Gil Noh
Robert Thomas vs. Mike Lemaire
Randy Blake vs. Warren Thompson
Hesdy Gerges vs. Benjamin Adegbuyi
Photo Credit: Glory World Series
