Fleury arrived in the European promotion with a bang last year with a second-round arm-triangle choke finish of former K-1 striker Daniel Skvor, then forced himself into the championship picture with a huge first-round knockout of former interim champion Pavol Langer.
Those two eye-catching victories, plus some well-delivered words towards champion Karlos Vemola, earned him a shot at the light heavyweight title and, in a dominant performance, Fleury defeated Vemola over the five-round distance to capture the OKTAGON 205-pound crown with scores of 50-44 across the board.
“In 2024 I’ve done absolutely everything I said I was going to do,” said Fleury after his victory.
“I don’t know how Karlos survived five rounds. I hit him with everything I had, and he was still standing. What a fighter, what a man.”
Fleury then turned his attention to what’s next, and hinted that he’s setting some new goals for the year ahead as he plans to have an even bigger year in 2025.
“I’ve gone and done it, but I have a lot more to do,” he said.
“I’ve had a big ‘24, but I’ve got even bigger plans in 2025. Karlos opened the door for me, he gave me this chance, and now I’m here to stay.”
Fleury would appear to have a few different options available to him. Immediately after the fight he engaged in a tense verbal exchange and faceoff with Makhmud Muradov, who challenged Fleury, but on the condition that they did it at middleweight.
While that matchup would certainly be a big one for the promotion, it would only be a one-off. Another option for Fleury could be to drop back down to his old weight class and enter the middleweight Tipsport Gamechanger tournament for 2025.
The tournament has 15 confirmed names, and seven confirmed matchups. The only fighter in the draw without an opening round opponent is Samuel Kristofic, who is currently set to face off against a wildcard opponent.
Fleury could potentially take that wildcard spot and bid to add a tournament title to his light heavyweight crown. The upside for him would be huge, though it would likely need OKTAGON to reintroduce an interim 205-pound title to keep the light heavyweight division rolling in Fleury’s absence.
But, with all of the attention set to be locked on the middleweight class in the coming year, the potential for a drop back to 185 and a shot at €300,000 might be just the challenge Fleury is looking for.
Whether he enters the tournament or not, Fleury clearly wants to build on his 2024 successes in the year ahead, and it will be very interesting to see what his next move will be.
