Will Fleury Sees A Finish Inside 3 Rounds vs. Oktagon’s Best Fighter at Oktagon 92

Will Fleury is the number one pound-for-pound fighter in Oktagon MMA, but he is confident his opponent this week is the number one fighter in the promotion today. The Oktagon MMA heavyweight kingpin will be defending a different Oktagon championship as Will Fleury defends his light heavyweight crown, and does so on August 1st at Oktagon 92.

When responding to the factoid that this will be his fifth title fight in a row for the powerhouse European promotion, Will Fleury said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Yeah, like obviously you do get a bit used to it. I think it’s always the fight that’s coming up. So, like when I was originally; my opponent got changed during the week. So it’s gone from Daniel Škvor, who I beat in my first Oktagon fight, previous to winning the title. It was kind of on my road to the title. We got rescheduled to fight each other again. Like, look, he’s a good fighter. It was a good fight. He’s won four fights in a row since then, but it’s always a little bit less special when you’ve already beat the guy for you.”

“I was very confident that I’d go in and smash him. With this one, it’s a whole new wave of excitement. Like Makhmud Muradov, he’s considered one of the best fighters in the European scene. Even when he went to the UFC, he did very well over there.”

“I feel like this is a brilliant opportunity to show the level in that because when you’re outside the UFC, everyone’s like, “Oh, how would he do in the UFC?” By getting to knock out Martin Buday, a guy who was seven and one in the UFC, and do it in like such emphatic fashion. I think it kind of laid down a marker of like, “No, I’m at that level and this is another opportunity to go and do something like that.”

Responding to the perceived notion that the Irish combatant was feeling like things have worked out better for him with this opponent shift, Will Fleury stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Definitely. Yeah, I feel like it’s a much bigger fight.”

Will Fleury feels Oktagon MMA doesn’t want him to be the main character ahead of Oktagon 92

Grounded perspective in his personal life coupled with massive successes in his professional life have created a nice confluence for the multi-division OKMMA titleholder, as Will Fleury quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Yeah, it’s been genuinely really like; the last couple years have exceeded my wildest dream. I always felt like I had talent as a martial artist, but like some of the things that have happened and some of the scenarios I was describing earlier with like being in the cage, brother playing your walk out music. Even my time at Oktagon in general they’re funny because they clearly don’t want an Irish guy to be the main guy in the promotion [laughter].”

“Double champ, pound-for-pound number one, and they’re selling to a central European audience. But everybody treats me really fairly. Everybody treats me really well. I get on really well with a lot of the staff. Like the fan base seems to love me over there. It’s great. It’s been like; considering where the sport’s at in Ireland, I feel like I couldn’t have had a much more positive career outside of Ireland.”

With logged heavyweight title defenses and this marking his first time defending the 205-pound crown for OKMMA, it would mark a legacy moment for champ champs who have defended both belts if Will Fleury gets his ideal outcome this weekend. When touching upon the visualisation for how he sees the story of this Makhmudov fight unfurling, Will Fleury said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Yeah, so it’s been a short period. Like it’s been four days since we’ve had this fight confirmed and I’ve been watching a lot of footage of Muradov. Like he’s very good at his phase one attack and he’s sharp. You can see like he was on the Money Team, the Floyd Mayweather thing for a while. I could see why somebody who originally watches him would be like, “Oh, this guy’s a really good boxer.” He is, don’t get me wrong. He’s a decent boxer. But watch his footwork when he; like entering very good. Leaving, not great.”

“His long range fighting is lovely. His mid-range fighting, meh. His close-range fighting is like he just hates being here. So when he’s scrambling to get away from guys, he’s all over the place. To me, there’s a lot of opportunity within those moments. So, it depends when those kind of exchanges start to happen, but I’ll be stuck to him like glue as soon as he’s entering on me. I don’t think it’s going to be a grappling match. I think it’s going to be very much a close-range, explosive striking battle.”

“Look, I’ve been preparing my hands for a long time now. I think I’ve shown in my last few fights my hands are very dangerous. They’re fairly obviously my big weapons. If I can get in close and start tagging him, I think it doesn’t last too long. But it’s just; he is good on the outside. He does keep range quite well. So, it’s about edging into that range and being a bit patient and waiting for your moment. Then when you get that moment now, like; so when that happens, I don’t know if it’ll be first, second, or third round, but I feel like I’m going to finish him within three.”