It's been well over a year since Gokhan Saki defeated Tyrone Spong in the GLORY 15 tournament final to win the GLORY light heavyweight title at Ulker Sports Arena in Istanbul, Turkey.
During this time, Saki, 31, failed to come to agreement with GLORY brass on a new contract, and due to GLORY rules stating a champion must defend his strap within one year, he was forced to vacate his title without ever attempting to defend it.
GLORY held out past the one-year deadline in hopes of coming to terms with Saki in time for him to defend the title on the Bellator 142: "Dynamite" hybrid card featuring GLORY kickboxing matches, but they were unable to do so.