Will Fleury Says Oktagon Is Protecting Makhmud Muradov From a Rematch

Will Fleury lost the Oktagon light heavyweight belt to Makhmud Muradov in August via a 19-second second-round knockout — a fight Fleury was arguably winning until he got clipped. Now he says the rematch both men agreed to on fight night has quietly evaporated, and he's pointing the finger squarely at the promotion.

According to Fleury, the plan was simple: run it back at Oktagon 100 on Dec. 29 in Prague. He says Muradov agreed to a December rematch at the post-fight presser. Four days later, Fleury claims, Oktagon owner Ondrej Novotny called to say Muradov had changed his mind — floating a heavyweight title shot against Fleury or a drop to middleweight instead.

The Résumé Argument

Fleury's beef isn't just personal. He argues the numbers back him up: he beat the No. 1 and No. 5 contenders on his way up, finished both, then took the heavyweight strap when it was vacant. Muradov, by contrast, has one Oktagon light heavyweight fight — a controversial one where he was dropped late in Round 1 before scoring the early stoppage. Fleury says he handed Muradov his first title shot at 205, and now Muradov is angling for a free heavyweight title fight without beating a single contender.

So Fleury countered with a condition: he'll take the heavyweight bout, but if he wins, Muradov has to rematch at 205 within three months. He says that pitch went nowhere fast — Muradov told him he'd do whatever he wanted, and that was their last conversation. Fleury's read is blunt: Muradov's in a comfortable spot with a belt he just won and doesn't want to risk a dangerous fight.

The suspicion running underneath all of it is that Oktagon wants a Czech-speaking champion and will back Muradov regardless of who's got the better ledger. Fleury admits his own diplomacy may have hurt him — he was gracious in defeat, called it a legit win, and now wonders whether complaining loudly would have earned him more leverage. He doesn't love the implication, but he gets it.

There's also a legitimate wrinkle: Muradov is Oktagon's interim middleweight champion, so a drop to 185 isn't baseless. Fleury's worry is that if Muradov heads down, he'll take forever to come back up — hence the push to settle 205 now. Muradov is a former UFC fighter who went 5-2 across seven appearances, with his only Octagon losses coming to Gerald Meerschaert and current No. 5 middleweight Caio Borralho, now 18-2.

For now, nothing's settled. Days after Fleury spoke, Oktagon announced a fan poll would decide the Oktagon 100 main event: Muradov challenging Krzysztof Jotko for the middleweight belt, or facing Fleury at heavyweight. Fleury still wants his 205 belt back and has floated chasing a third title at 185 if he wins. Whether any of it lands in the cage is, at the moment, up to the voters.