Will Fleury rejected UFC to share ‘special’ title night on same card as girlfriend

Will Fleury is on the verge of writing a story that most fighters can only dream of.

The Irish MMA standout defends his light heavyweight title at Oktagon 92 in Prague on Saturday before his girlfriend, Lucie Pudilova, battles for gold in the same cage for the main event.

Oktagon MMA

Fleury takes on 37-fight veteran Makhmud Muradov in the chief support act.

Meanwhile, Pudilova, who fought in the UFC 11 times between 2017 and 2024, faces the undefeated Lucia Szabova for Oktagon’s women’s bantamweight belt.

Fleury met Czech Republic’s Pudilova at Straight Blast Gym Ireland and the pair eventually began a relationship after being introduced by rolling together during a jiu-jitsu class.

It’s quite an extraordinary moment for Fleury, who has also claimed gold in Oktagon’s heavyweight division since joining the gigantic European promotion just two years ago.

Speaking to talkSPORT.com ahead of his seventh appearance for Oktagon on Saturday, Fleury explained how much the fight means to him at this stage of his career.

Fleury previews ‘special’ Oktagon 92 show

“My partner and I are going to fight for titles on the same night, in the same arena, with a really passionate fan base who are fully invested in the stories of the fighters, my opponent and me,” he said.

“And we could create this moment where the two of us are in the cage together, hugging each other with belts on.

“That’s incredibly special to me.”

Asked what he’s fighting for, Fleury responded: “I suppose, I’m very driven to do this for a lot of different reasons, I’d imagine.

“Some of it is proving to myself that I am what I’ve worked to be. I am that f****** good. And I’ve gone out and done that a lot of times, but I’m still hungry to keep doing it. So there’s that.

Oktagon MMA

“But then there’s, for example, when I defended my heavyweight title in Berlin, I got to have my brother play my walkout music.

“In a weird way, that bound a fairly fractured family environment into something a little bit more cohesive.

“It’s mad how it’s all come together in a way and I’m going to continue to do this for as long as I can and try and write as many beautiful stories as I can and adding an extra chapter to that always feels good.”

‘I’d be taking 75 per cent pay cut to go UFC’

Last time out, Fleury knocked Kasim Aras out cold in front of over 15,000 fans at Oktagon 90 — the promotion’s first show in Berlin.

Before that, he stopped former ranked UFC heavyweight Martin Buday in less than two minutes, leaving MMA fans begging for Dana White to bring him to the UFC.

Yet despite the dominant performance, Fleury still seems to be an unattractive asset to MMA’s premier promotion.

Oktagon MMA

Oktagon MMA

When he became double champion in March 2025, Fleury was told he was too old to join the UFC.

Then, after his fight against Buday, he received somewhat of a laughable offer to get on board.

“I’d be taking a 75 per cent pay cut to go to the UFC and that doesn’t make sense,” Fleury added, recalling conversations with White’s promotion.

“It’s a bit silly, especially at 37 years of age, in a place where you’re a double champ coming in from the biggest organisation in Europe.

“I felt like we weren’t on the same page with this. It’s nice to be in that position, to be like, ‘No, actually, I’m better off here, cheers, mate.’”

Fleury did, however, add that he would still love to test himself against UFC’s elites, purely because of his competitive mindset and his words, ‘not giving a f***.’

He continued: “I’m not gonna go and fight some lad for s*** money on an undercard in the middle of nowhere.

“I have a really good affinity with the Czech, German, Central European crowd. I’m like, ‘Why would I give all this up and take a 75 per cent pay cut.

“Ten years ago, if you’d said, ‘Will, you’re gonna have this great career, but you’ll never fight in the UFC.’ I would’ve been like, ‘Well, that’s actually not really a great career, is it?’

“My perspective on that’s changed quite a bit, even in the last couple of years. I’ve proved to myself that I’m a quality, quality fighter.

“I’ve gone out there and done incredible things. I’m gonna continue to go out there and do incredible things.”