After WSOF 3 scratch, Tyrone Spong enters June 22 Glory kickboxing tourney in NY

Less than a week after withdrawing from World Series of Fighting’s third event, Tyrone Spong has been booked to compete in kickboxing tournament for upstart promotion Glory.

The former K-1 kickboxer will compete in a one-night single-elimination light-heavyweight tourney, Glory 9, which takes place June 22 at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, the organization today announced. The tourney’s winner takes home $200,000, an official told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The kickboxing event streams live on gloryworldseries.com and via tape-delay on CBS Sports Network, which recently struck a broadcast deal with the promotion.

Visa issues cited as the reason for Spong’s WSOF 3 withdrawal 3 stretch back to the period of his training camp for the MMA fight, according to multiple sources close to the fighter. Unable to enter the U.S. to train for the bout, Spong elected to withdraw from a scheduled co-main event with Angel DeAnda at WSOF 3, which takes place June 14 at Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and airs live on NBC Sports Network.

Spong, however, was able to resolve his visa situation in time to take the kickboxing fight, according to sources.

Upon announcing his intention to compete in kickboxing and MMA, the 26-year-old fighter joined up with the famed Blackzilians, who train out of JACO Hybrid Training Center in Boca Raton, Fla. Spong made his MMA debut this past November at WSOF 1, where he knocked out the unheralded Travis Bartlett in the first round.

WSOF President Ray Sefo thought Spong planned to do both bouts and “didn’t want to disappoint anybody,” he today told MMAjunkie.com. But it also was his understanding that those visa issues would keep Spong from competing in the Glory tournament

“As far as we’ve heard from his manager to one of his staff members, Tyrone won’t be fighting in Glory either,” he said.

Spong could fight as many as three opponents in the kickboxing tournament, which features three two-minute rounds in the quarterfinals and semifinals – and three three-minute rounds in the final. Brian Collette, Danyo Ilunga, Filip Verlinden, Mourad Bouzidi, Steve McKinnon and Michael Duut are confirmed participants, as is UFC veteran Dustin Jacoby. Quarterfinal-round matchups have yet to be announced.

“We are excited to enter Tyrone into this historic, first Glory championship series event in the U.S. that will determine who is physically and mentally the top athlete in kickboxing’s light heavyweight division,” Glory Sports International CEO Andrew Whitaker stated.

For the latest on WSOF 3, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.