Joe Schilling’s next bout will be in a kickboxing ring — with a belt on the line.
The two-sport standout will challenge Artem Levin for the GLORY middleweight title at GLORY 24 on Oct. 9 in Denver, the organization announced Thursday. It will be a trilogy bout and rubber match between the two men.
Schilling’s last two fights have been for Bellator MMA, both losses. He fell via second-round knockout against Hisaki Kato in June, which nullified his announced his appearance at Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1 on Sept. 19. Schilling was hit with a suspension from the Kansas Athletic Commission due to the KO.
The Ohio native won his last kickboxing match, a dominant unanimous decision against Robert Thomas at GLORY 19 in April. Schilling, 31, fell to Levin at GLORY 17 last year in the finals of a middleweight tournament for the belt. He previously beat Levin at GLORY 10 in the finals of a middleweight tournament to win the belt. Schilling’s career kickboxing record is 18-7.
Levin, 28, is coming off a majority draw against Simon Marcus at GLORY 21 in May. Before that, the Russian native had won seven straight in GLORY and other kickboxing organizations. His last loss came against Schilling at GLORY 10 on Sept. 28, 2013. Levin’s career kickboxing record is 83-7-2.
Also at GLORY 24, there will be a one-night, four-man heavyweight contender tournament to decide the next challenger for Rico Verhoeven’s title.