A huge challenge awaits him soon – Prague’s O2 Arena and a showdown with local legend Karlos Vémola, who’s taken up his dangerous challenge. How is he feeling right now? We got all the answers from the fiery Will Fleury.

What does it mean to you personally to close out the year with a fight against someone like Vemola in front of a sold-out O2 arena? Have you thought about how a victory might impact your career and life outside the cage?

Yeah, obviously it would be life-changing for me. When I signed with OKTAGON, this is exactly how I set things out in my head – take out some of the top guys in the division and then go to the Karlos fight. And I've made this happen.

How do you approach a fight of this magnitude mentally? Does the size of the event or the crowd’s reaction affect your focus?

I don't really care to be honest. If I'm the bad guy, great. If I'm the good guy, who cares. All I want to do is go in and create something that's like, wow, sh*t, this guy's a really good fighter. And afterwards, whether you love me or hate me, you'll be like, f*ck, he is a good fighter.

What kind of reaction are you expecting from Czech fans?

To be honest, what I noticed in Slovakia was that Karlos wasn't very popular. A lot of people were coming over to me telling me they hope I whoop his a**, even Czech people.

Karlos has a reputation for trying to get inside his opponents’ heads. How do you handle his psychological tactics?

Every fight is a mental battle as well, but I feel if your technique is good enough, it's very easy to be confident. For me, the mental preparation is also the physical preparation. If I know how you're about to move and I can predict this and I can hit you, it's pretty easy to be confident now. I can hit you and you can't hit me. This is a lot of power and I feel like with Karlos, I'm going to create that situation. That's why when we're starting to talk sh*t to each other, I can look him in the eyes and smile and say, I'm going to f*ck you up.

Your fighting style is known for being direct and uncompromising. When you're in the cage, how much of your strategy is pre-planned versus relying on instincts and improvisation?

Yeah, I think watching your opponent is huge. I think it's very important to do a lot of video work on the guy to understand how he's going to move and to understand how you're going to sequence what he does. If I give you this, how will you react? And now it's possible that on the night his reaction will be different. So it's like, okay, you're giving him two options. Is he going for A or B? And now I've learned techniques worked out from this. I think this is your job. If you're going to be a professional fighter, be professional. Do your homework beforehand. Watch the guy.

Do you ever avoid over-analyzing your opponent to stay adaptable during the fight?

There'll be situations like sometimes I like to enter a spar where I don't know the guy at all. And you just have to read it on the day because there will be situations in a fight where people are going to do unpredictable things. Get used to the chaos in one way, but also you can predict chaos a lot of the time. And if I know how you're going to move, I can exploit this very easily.

Looking back to the very beginning, what first attracted you to MMA? What made you decide to commit to it as a career?

I think the fact that I knew I would get a reward for the effort that I put into it. A fight is obviously a very tough situation mentally to enter into. I was always like, that won't bother me. I know that if I prepare properly, I can beat anybody. I always believed that. My parents were very good at instilling the belief that if you work hard enough, you can go and achieve anything.

Did you fight even as a kid?

I got the cr*p beaten out of me by my brothers as a kid a lot, and I felt like, well, if I'm able to stand up to them, I can stand up to anyone because they were so much bigger and older than me. I had that thing of, no, I can keep standing up to these challenges. That belief made me want to pursue MMA.

Do you remember your very first MMA training session? What was it like, and how did it influence your decision to keep pursuing the sport?

I actually do remember my first training. It's a long time since I thought about this, but it was me and an Algerian guy beating the sh*t out of each other. I loved it. I was really nervous before we started fighting. It wasn't hard sparring or anything; it was just wrestling, but we were so emotional about winning this wrestling thing. He was a really tough guy, obviously, and I was a rugby player, so I was a big, strong guy.

How did it turn out?

The coach got the two of us to do a couple of rounds at the end of the session. Technique-wise, it was terrible. But from a competition point of view, it was like, right, I want to be the guy. I want to be the man here, and he wanted to be the man really badly. We went for about 15 minutes, just killing each other. Eventually, he got tired, and I won.

Your background includes rugby. Do you think the skills or mentality you developed in rugby helped you transition into MMA?

It helped in a lot of ways. A double-leg takedown is very similar to a rugby tackle, and the timing and physicality came naturally to me. In rugby, you’re used to collisions with people running toward you, so I wasn’t afraid of hard hits. That mindset carried over to MMA.

Do you feel rugby gave you any mental edge when it comes to handling pressure and competition in MMA?

Rugby taught me about competition and failure. You try, you fail, and you learn. That mindset carried over to MMA. In rugby, failures aren’t as personal because it’s a team sport, but in MMA, it’s all on you. That’s challenging, but also satisfying because it means you’re in control.

What have been the toughest moments of your career so far, and how have they shaped you as a fighter and a person?

I’ve had a lot of tough times in this career. Early on, after my pro debut, a Portuguese fighter was killed in Ireland, and MMA was effectively banned. It was very difficult to get my second fight. I had a lot of opponents lined up, and they would pull out, or the shows would be canceled because of insurance purposes. It was very difficult during that period, and I wasn’t making much money. I questioned a lot if I could make this a sustainable career. Was it worth the investment of my time and energy? But I kept going. I was undefeated as an amateur and a pro at the time, and getting signed to Bellator was a big moment for me.

What lessons did you learn from your first professional loss, and how did it impact your approach?

In my first loss, I overlooked my opponent. He was 6-0 with six knockouts, but because he was a last-minute replacement, I dismissed him. I thought I’d smash him, and that cocky attitude hurt me. I got knocked out in the first round. It was a huge lesson in humility and preparation. That loss, and the ones that followed, taught me to respect every opponent. Without those tough moments, I wouldn’t be as good a fighter today.

How do you mentally recover from a tough loss, and what keeps you motivated to improve and move forward?

Losses expose you to reality. The more you try to protect yourself from failure, the less you’ll grow. It still bothers me when I think about those moments, but that pain drives me to improve. I’m grateful for those challenges because they shaped who I am as a fighter.

What goes through your mind in the final moments before walking out to the cage? Are you nervous, calm, or something else entirely?

At that point, I’m actually quite calm. Everything feels mellow and blank because all the work has been done. It’s time to let go and enjoy the moment.

How do you mentally prepare for the intensity of the walkout and the fight itself?

I love my walkouts. The energy from the crowd, the buzz—it’s amazing. In the warm-up, I get pumped up and feel that nervous energy. But when it’s time to walk out, I find a sense of peace. I've seen it so many times in my own head, and I've visualised the whole thing. It feels like I’m watching myself from the outside. Let your brain take the backseat for a second, just go and be primal Will, and let that guy take over. Will f*cking Fleury, the fighter, he's gonna go in and do his work now. So it's a funny feeling, but I really, really enjoy the intensity of those moments.

Do you have any role models, either in sports or outside of it, who inspire you in your approach to life and fighting?

Growing up, I admired Irish rugby players like Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara. They were stoic and embraced challenges. As I got older, my focus shifted to becoming my own role model. I hold myself accountable to the person I want to be.

If young Will Fleury could meet you now, what do you think he’d say? And if you could give him advice, what would you tell him?

I think young Will would be proud overall, though he might disagree with some of my choices. If I could give him advice, I’d tell him not to fear failure. Embrace challenges and take risks because that’s how you grow.

Finally, if someone who’s never seen you fight asks, "Why should I watch Will Fleury in the cage?"—what would you say?

Because I give everything I have. I fight with intensity and heart, always looking to finish. Love me or hate me, you won’t forget me.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FLEURY: LOVE ME OR HATE ME, YOU WON’T FORGET ME!

Das könnte Sie interessieren

HIGHLIGHTS DER FIGHT CARD IN KÖLN: EIN TANZTALENT IM TITELKAMPF UND EIN SIEG ÜBER DAS SCHICKSAL

HARTER TEST FÜR DEN CHAMPION: WIRD MACHAEV PALOKAJ DIE ERSTE NIEDERLAGE IN DER ORGANISATION ZUFÜGEN?

TITELKÄMPFE IN BERLIN: FLEURY UND LEGIERSKI SETZEN IHRE GÜRTEL AUFS SPIEL

WEGWEISENDES DUELL IN KÖLN: AKIPA TRIFFT AUF OKTAGON-URGESTEIN KERTÉSZ

OKTAGON 90 ERGEBNISSE: BLITZ-KOs, LEGIERSKI HÄLT THRON, FLEURY BLEIBT KÖNIG