Ireland's Will Fleury (14-3, 1 NC) will attempt to make history this Saturday evening when he takes on Lazar Todev (11-6) in the main event at Oktagon 68 in Stuttgart, Germany.
The pair will compete for the vacant Oktagon heavyweight title, and Fleury, who is already the light heavyweight champion following an epic introduction to life in the Czech-based organization over the past year, believes 'The Punisher' will be his toughest test yet.
"I watched his fight in Frankfurt (vs Adam Palasz at Okatgon 62) the night I fought there as well", Fleury told Sean Sheehan of Sherdog in an interview this week, "and I just remember thinking, 'Wow, this guy moves really well for heavyweight'. You know, like, he moves really well.
"And then afterwards, I went back and watched the fight on YouTube, where you can see it a little bit better. And just the accuracy of some of his shots, I was impressed by. And then I saw that he was going to fight (Hatef) Moeil again for the title, and I kind of thought, 'Well, if I can, I'll try and put a few quid on him because I think he's going to win that one', and then it ends up being me fighting him!"
Fleury Aiming To Test 'The Punisher'
Former PFL star Fleury had a sensational introduction to life under the Oktagon banner in 2024, finishing 2 ranked opponents in Daniel Skvor and Pavol Langer to earn a title shot against Karlos Vemola in December.
He dominated 'The Terminator' over 5 rounds at Oktagon 65 to secure the belt, and having previously won a middleweight world title in UAE Warriors back in 2022, Fleury now stands on the precipice of becoming a 3-weight world champion.
Standing in his way is Todev, a seasoned kickboxer who has also had an encouraging start to life as an Oktagon fighter. His 2nd-round knockout win over Palasz in October earned him a shot at glory this weekend and Fleury believes fans may be underestimating just how much of a threat the Bulgarian is.
"I think the guy's a very tidy fighter", said the Tipperary native. "I think he's the best guy I've fought so far in Oktagon. And I think his record kind of does him a disservice because he's 11-6. But like in his last 10 fights, he's 9-1.
"If you were fighting a 9-1 heavyweight, everyone's like, 'Oh, that guy must be really good'. You know, an 11-6 heavyweight doesn't seem like as big a challenge. But actually, that guy is just a more experienced version of a 9-1 fighter. So I think he's easy to underrate. He's easy to dismiss. I think he's a very quality fighter and he's got a great skill set.
"At the same time, there's a lot of things we haven't seen him exposed to. And I'm very good at doing a lot of those things. So he's never been consistently put under pressure with good footwork. So the guys who have tried to chase him, they've kind of plodded into chasing him. There's very few guys as mobile as me that have tried to track him.
"And he loves to engage and disengage and give himself some space and time. If a guy with good footwork is stopping him from disengaging, what is his reaction? And then we haven't seen him taken down. There's no real evidence of what he's like offensively. I can see that he's done a good bit of jiu-jitsu training. But what's his level like? We'll find out.
"I think it has the potential to be a real classic fight if he's actually skilled in those areas and can prevent some of those things. I know how determined I am to become this double champ and not be stopped and continue this wave of momentum that I've created. But at the same time, I respect that this guy is going to be a legit challenge. I think it's the hardest fight out there for me within Oktagon at the moment".
