Wilnis is the former middleweight champion of It’s Showtime, the Dutch promotion bought out by GLORY back in 2012, and is currently ranked #3 in the world. He was runner-up to Simon Marcus in the GLORY 20 DUBAI Middleweight Contender Tournament and is 2-1 in his last three outings.
According to sources on the Levin side, the Russian injured his elbow whilst participating in the recent IFMA championships in his homeland. The severity of the injury has not been determined but is not thought to be career-threatening or to require Levin to spend extensive time on the sidelines.
The fight with Schilling would have been a rubber match following a pair of fights in which they have taken a win each. Schilling beat Levin in the final of the GLORY 10 LOS ANGELES four-man tournament and had the favor returned in the final of the LAST MAN STANDING tournament at GLORY 17 LOS ANGELES.
Levin’s winning of the tournament earned him the World Middleweight Championship. He has made one defense of the belt so far, a five-round fight with Simon Marcus at GLORY 21 SAN DIEGO which ended in a controversial draw. Levin retained the title but a rematch with Marcus, also currently injured, is on the agenda as soon as it can be made.
While Marcus and Levin recover from their injuries, Schilling and Wilnis will battle it out. If Wilnis can pull off the upset and beat Schilling, he will likely move forward to a title shot of his own, though will probably have to wait to see Levin vs. Marcus II play out first, if they are fit to fight in a reasonable time-frame.
Schilling is ranked #2 in the contender lists, just behind Marcus, and is 3-1 in his last four outings with only the LAST MAN STANDING finale loss to Levin spoiling the run. He also has a long-running rivalry with Marcus at play, which makes the top end of the middleweight division a particularly compelling place at present.
GLORY 24 DENVER takes place Friday, October 9 at the Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado and has UFC veteran Pat ‘HD’ Barry, a Denver native, in the co-headline slot. He faces Karl Roberson, a Muay Thai stylist from New York. Roberson got some headlines recently when he was the victim of a blatant hometown decision loss to Jerome Le Banner in France.
While it’s unfortunate that our champion was injured and we wish him a speedy recovery, we are still able to put together a fight between two of the very best middleweights in the world,” Glory CEO Jon Franklin said in a statement. “It speaks to the depth of talent on our roster and Jason stepped-up with no hesitation.”
“The third fight between Levin and Schilling will happen in the Glory ring at some point,” Franklin added. “But make no mistake; this match-up at Glory 24 has huge implications for one of our deepest divisions.”
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