Will Fleury was there in the flesh when Conor McGregor suffered the first defeat of his Cage Warriors career.
McGregor had just been submitted by Joe Duffy in the sixth bout of his professional MMA career and the future looked bleak.
Little did Fleury know, however, that the defeat in 2010 would be McGregor’s last for six years as he subsequently carved out a path to UFC gold in the process.
McGregor became the UFC’s first two-division champion before he suffered the next defeat of his career to Nate Diaz in March 2016.
Only UFC legends Daniel Cormier, Henry Cejudo and Amanda Nunes have since achieved the iconic feat that modern fighters have struggled to replicate.
Now, Fleury is hoping to create his own history, as he attempts to become another famous Irish MMA two-division titleholder.
After becoming OKTAGON’s light-heavyweight champion last December, Fleury is moving straight up to heavyweight to try and claim the iconic double-champion status.
But the 35-year-old has never wanted to be anyone but himself, even though his next victory could put him in the same footsteps as McGregor.
“It was definitely inspirational to see somebody Irish doing it and making it that big,” Fleury told talkSPORT.com.
“I didn’t have an idol or didn’t want to be like [McGregor] at the time.
“But it definitely did show: ‘Hey, you can do this if you’re Irish’, and that was genuinely pretty inspiring at that stage.”
If Fleury wins this weekend at OKTAGON 68 in Stuttgart, Germany, he will be crowned the first-ever double champion of the promotion’s heaviest divisions.
OKTAGON MMA shattered the UFC’s highest-ever attendance record after a blockbuster event in Frankfurt back in October.
The Czech Republic and Slovakian-based promotion sold out the Deutsche Bank Park, usually the home of Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, for OKTAGON 62.
Fleury fought on that card, securing his second victory with the promotion by defeating Pavol Langer via a first-round knockout.
He then knocked out fan-favourite Karlos Vemola in his opponent’s native Czech Republic to claim the light heavyweight title.
Yet again, Fleury goes into enemy territory to try and win another title at OKTAON 68 as he faces Lazar Todev, who is from Bulgaria but currently lives in Stuttgart.
Should the Irish giant win again (the heavyweight belt is currently vacant), in less than a year since debuting with OKTAGON, Fleury would have won four fights and claimed two titles in the process.
But the former rugby player at youth level is thoroughly embracing his villain role.
“I absolutely love it,” Fleury added. “So there’s kind of a thing of being the enemy, the heel, that I’ve just managed to embrace.
“It’s funny, I didn’t think I would enjoy it. I knew in Prague the crowd were going to be a little bit against me, but I didn’t think it would be as bad.
“I thought 70 per cent would be for him and 30 per cent would be for me. No, 99 per cent were for him.
“As soon as I was walking out, even my music started to play, I was just like: ‘Brilliant’.
“I f****** love this. So as soon as I got out and the crowd saw me, and it was just like real loud booing or whatever, you get a buzz out of it.
“Because it’s like: ‘Watch what I’m about to do to your guy. I’m about to smash him, and all of you are going to be quiet’. And in fairness, the crowd were great afterwards.”
There’s no doubt Fleury will attract the attention of MMA’s biggest league, the UFC, should he come out victorious in Stuttgart on Saturday night.
Although he initially thought that joining the UFC would be the ultimate goal, Fleury remains happy with his current opportunities, enjoying the growth and control he has within his career.
Fleury concludes by saying that a switch to the UFC would depend on multiple factors, including the money on offer, the level of competition, and how quickly he could progress within the division.
“You dream about that stuff,” he said, when asked about a future fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
However, for now, Fleury’s one and only goal is to ‘smash’ Todev next, then he can evaluate his future MMA goals.
