Oktagon 90 takes place in Berlin on June 20th.
Will Fleury in action.(Image: (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images))
Irish MMA superstar Will Fleury returns to action on June 20th when he headlines Oktagon 20 in Berlin.
The 37-year-old from Tipperary faces one of the toughest tests of his career when he defends his heavyweight World championship against Kasim Aras at the Uber Arena in Berlin.
Fleury has been on a tear since sigining with OKTAGON a number of years ago, winning the light-heavyweight and heavyweight title with the promotion. He has been in negotioations with the organisation over a new contract and has now put pen to paper on a new six-fight deal that will see him remain with the European based MMA company for the forseeable future.
‘I’m delighted to finally get the new deal with OKTAGON sorted. I had good offers from elsewhere but ultimately, I felt OKTAGON are growing faster and doing bigger events than anyone else in MMA at the moment,” said the Irishman.
“It’s a six-fight deal and as long as I continue to dominate the way I have been, I’ll be in a good position financially and promotionally after I’ve fought those six fights.
“I think people are massively underestimating Aras and how dangerous he is. He’s a strong wrestler with a powerful overhand and a huge neck so he’ll be a difficult guy to knock out. But there’s no better man than Will Fleury to get that done. So yeah, I’m going with a third round KO!’
Richie Smullen
Elsewhere on the card, veteran Richie Smullen will return to featherweight as he looks to get back to winning ways against Zafar Mohsen: ‘I’m looking forward to fighting back down at featherweight and climbing the rankings. Realistically, I’m only maybe two wins away from competing for the belt. My upcoming opponent, Mohsen, has fought an old team mate of mine in his OKTAGON debut but other than that, I don’t really think much about him.
“He looks physically strong so I’ll be looking to put the pressure on early to make him tired and then submit him in the later rounds. It’s good to have other Irish fighters on the card but I’m there for my fight and that’s my main focus. Beating Mohsen and climbing the rankings is all I’ve got on my mind’.