Irish middleweight Will Fleury will make his BRAVE C.F debut on March 2nd at BRAVE 10: The Kingdom Rises in Jordan.
Fleury who fights out of SBG Ireland is considered to be a big prospect out of Ireland. He is 3-0 as a pro and 7-0 as an amateur.
Fleury, who will take on Tarek Suleiman, last fought on the South African promotion EFC, defeating Gordon Roodman by TKO back in December.
Before this fight he was involved in EFC’s reality show ‘The Fighter’ in which his time on the show came to a controversial end when his opponent, Shaw Dean, was allowed to use illegal blows to the back of the head, as Fleury atrempted a takedown, he also received a few blows after the ref stopped the fight. SBG Ireland founder and head coach John Kavanagh labeled it, “The worst refereeing I’ve seen in 20 yrs.”
The fight was surprisingly declared a no contest and not a DQ, and Fleury was told he could no longer fight because he had suffered a concussion, which the Irish fighter said was never medically proven.
His upcoming opponent Suleiman has a record of 6-4 and one no contest, he has jumped between welterweight and middleweight over the course of his five-year career. He has won 3 of his last 5 fights and all six of his wins have come inside the distance.
Will Fleury gave his thoughts on the upcoming fight, his EFC experience and more in an interview with MMA UK.
MMA UK: It has recently been announced that you are to take on Tarek Suleiman at BRAVE 10: The Kingdom Rises in Amman, Jordan on March 2nd. What do you know about your opponent?
WF: I know at some point he’ll give me the opportunity to finish him and I will.
MMA UK: How do you see the fight playing out?
WF: 1/2 round TKO, if he can take the first shots, he looks like he has a certain amount of resilience but once he knows my cardio is legit and the shots wont stop, he’ll crumble mentally.
MMA UK: Have you ever been to the Middle East before?
WF: Yep, I went to Abu Dhabi last April to corner my training partner Ben Forsyth. It was a great experience.
MMA UK: Have you signed a multi fight deal with BRAVE? And what is your first thoughts on the promotion?
WF: Yep its a 3 fight deal. Yeah, BRAVE have a lot of legit fighters and they seem to be putting on a few shows this year so all good on that front. They also seem intent on expanding their profile in Europe. So I’ll give them a hand doing that!
MMA UK: You last fought against Gordon Roodman at EFC in December, did the fight go as you expected?
WF: Pretty much, I went into the fight with broken ribs but I knew once I connected he’d be in serious trouble. He was more resilient than I thought he’d be, but if I’d been a bit more clinical after dropping him the first time, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be. I’ll be a bit more patient when I drop Tarek.
MMA UK: Are you finished with EFC?
WF: Nah I hope not. I really enjoyed the experience of fighting in EFC66 in December. Obviously I was pretty upset with how the TF1 reality show played out but they did a lot to repair the relationship once I got down to SA again. I was surprised at the scale of their production and the size of the platform they have. I had my heart set on fighting Brendan Lesar, proving I was the true winner of the show and getting the title shot out of it but his nose is fairly badly broken and he has a title shot built into his contract now so that will all take time to play itself out meanwhile I’ll be whooping some booty in BRAVE. There are also a few other lads from the show that I’d like to fight in future so lets see how it all plays itself out.
MMA UK: For those who are not aware can you tell us about your time on EFC’s The Fighter show and the controversial No Contest decision that saw your time in the show come to an end?
WF: Yeah, its frustrating I was the best fighter on the show by far and to have your chance at a good contract and a title shot taken away by incompetent refereeing and poor decision-making afterwards is pretty heartbreaking. But at the end of the day it’s happened now complaining about it isn’t going to get you anywhere. I’m an ass whooper I’ll create more opportunities
MMA UK: What’s it like to train at a renowned gym such as SBG Ireland?
WF: It’s a privilege. It’s the Mecca of Europe when it comes to MMA. To have that at your doorstep is something I’m extremely grateful for.
MMA UK: How did you become involved in MMA?
WF: I broke my foot playing rugby in 2010, the rehab led me to MMA
MMA UK: What do you hope to do within the sport?
WF: I’m going to be a UFC champion but ultimately my goal is to prove that resilience and intelligence can overcome physical disadvantages.
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