Alkayis Out, Uslu In Against Van Soest at Glory 44

Alkayis Out, Uslu In Against Van Soest at Glory 44 By: Mike Sloan Glory revealed on Wednesday that Turkish fighter Funda Alkayis had to withdraw from a bout against reigning super bantamweight champion Tiffany Van Soest due to personal reasons. Without wasting any time, the U.S.-based kickboxing powerhouse revealed that Germany’s Meryem Uslu (36-10-1, 12 KOs) will fill in for her.

Uslu is a former IMC, WLF, and WKF world champion and has taken on Anissa Meksen and holds a win over Jessica Gladstone. The fight will be the first title defense for Van Soest (17-2-1, 5 KOs), a former two-division champ for Muay Thai promotion Lion Fight.

Headlining Glory 44: Chicago will be reigning welterweight champ Cedric Doumbe (67-4-1, 39 KOs) against Murthel Groenhart (66-22-3, 38 KOs). The main card will be anchored by a four-man one-night welterweight tournament where Harut Grigorian (44-11, 32 KOs) will oppose Karim Banmansour (48-7-2, 22 KOs) in one side of the bracket and Antoine Pinto (132-36-1, 77 KOs) will face Casey Greene (5-7, 2 KOs) in the other. A battle between Richard Maximus and fellow welterweight Daniel Morales will bolster the Glory 44 main card as well.

Heavyweight contender Catalin Morosanu (44-10, 26 KOs) will fight on the undercard, taking on Michal Turynski (21-9, 6 KOs). Rounding out the SuperFight Series undercard will be UFC and Bellator veteran Dustin Jacoby (9-8, 7 KOs) against Sean Choice (6-2) at middleweight; Warren Thompson (14-8-1, 3 KOs) versus Robert Thomas (8-5, 5 KOs) at middleweight; lightweight Rafal Dudek (20-12, 9 KOs) taking on Nate Richardson (10-2, 5 KOs); and Victor Pinto (72-27, 22 KOs) opposing fellow featherweight Adrian Maxim (27-8, 17 KOs).

Glory 44: Chicago will be broadcast live on ESPN3 at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT, preceded by the SuperFight Series on UFC Fight Pass at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.