When Lucie Pudilová won her first fight of the year back in January, a follow-up appearance for Europe’s Oktagon promotion seemed imminent for the summertime. And while that expectation ultimately came true, the path back to an MMA fight in the UFC veteran’s native home of the Czech Republic has played out like a Hollywood script.
At Oktagon 92 in Central Tennis Court Štvanice this Saturday, Aug. 1, Pudilová takes on undefeated rising bantamweight star Lucia Szabová in a main-event bout, with Szabová defending her newfound Oktagon women’s bantamweight championship.
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That’s all nice and meaningful for Pudilová. But it’s not what makes Oktagon 92 historic. In the co-main event, Pudilová’s partner — two-division Oktagon champion Will Fleury — defends his light heavyweight strap against Makhmud Muradov. By night’s end, they will have become the first couple to compete in MMA title fights on the same night.
“I can’t wait,” Pudilová, 32, told Uncrowned ahead of the big weekend.
“It will be nice preparing for this fight together. We don’t have a special plan, like if we will be together in the [locker] room, how we make [our] weight cut. But I think it will be easy.”
Pudilová and Fleury have done everything in their power to add a storybook chapter to their careers. (Credit: Oktagon MMA.)
After Pudilová’s latest Oktagon win to kick off 2026, she turned to boxing out of desperation to stay active while dealing with a knee injury. She won two matches in April and May, while Fleury negotiated his way into his spot on Oktagon 92.
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Fleury, 37, was already ready enough to test the waters as a surging double champion on an 11-fight win streak. Then the offer he couldn’t refuse emerged.
His fight was inked before his partner’s, but he knew the stars were aligning.
“This just had the different significance, obviously, because we’re both fighting,” Fleury says. “Now the fact that it’s Muradov that I’m going to fight, who’s probably the most naturally talented fighter in Oktagon — it’s class. I get to show the world the level I’m at on one night, and my girlfriend gets to go in and show, ‘Hey, this girl that you all think is unbelievable [Szabová], I’m going to go in and smash her.’
“I keep visualizing the two of us together in a cage with the belts and making that a reality. Feeling that, seeing that in my mind, and to know that, ‘Hey, there’s a lot we have to go through to get to that point,’ but I just feel like we’ve done what it takes. We’re prepared. Sport can go any way, but we’ve set ourselves up well for success.
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“There’s a lot riding on Saturday,” Fleury continued. “It could be the best day of our lives, or it could be like, ‘OK, we’ve got to go and learn some stuff.’ Either way, I don’t think either of us are ever going to be in a bad position in our careers after this, but it would be beautiful if we could make this a reality.
“I know it’s a little bit corny, but f*** me, that would be some experience. That would be class.”
Fleury is already a heavyweight and light heavyweight champion in Oktagon. (Photo credit: Oktagon)
Together for three years now, Fleury and Pudilová didn’t seem like a match made in heaven out the gate. In fact, it was somewhat the opposite — at least from Fleury’s perspective, who still recalls his first time interacting with Pudilová in their gym.
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“The reality is just, we were around the gym for ages together,” Fleury says. “At first, I really didn’t like her at all. She’s very Eastern [European] and stoic and just didn’t talk. I smashed her one time when we were rolling [in jiu-jitsu training] — she came over, she asked me for a round, and I’m a big guy so it’s pretty rare girls ask me for a round.
“I just rolled with her really technically, put her in a couple of different leg locks. Like really gentle, really whatever. She just got up and left. Didn’t even say thanks or anything. Just walked away. I was like, ‘What a b****.'”
It sounds rude out of context, but it’s hard not to laugh at when hearing the large Irishman reflect with a smile, enhanced by his mutton-chop/mustache combo.
Pudilová’s explanation for her actions after that first roll was simple.
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“I was sad, you know?” she says with a laugh.
Their relationship slowly blossomed after that. They didn’t talk or interact much for the following year, but then Fleury saw Pudilová spar longtime Irish featherweight contender Sinead Kavanagh.
It was like a real fight every time, says Fleury, who was unfamiliar back then with the type of toughness his future partner was known for. Pudilová had already gone through her first UFC stint, notable for an instant-classic war against Irene Aldana. If there was a scrap to be had, Pudilová was there for it — even if that meant throwing down in the gym.
Lucie Pudilova (right) and Irene Aldana left it all in the cage back in their 2018 UFC collision.
(Josh Hedges via Getty Images)
But the fun and laughs always came after the hard spars, which changed Fleury’s mind. Maybe he thought they shared a sickness for the same violent art, jokes Pudilová.
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A post-training date over Japanese food essentially snowballed into where Fleury and Pudilová are now.
“Weirdly, everything’s kind of just come together perfectly in a way,” Fleury says. “We’re ending up fighting on the same card. We’re fighting for titles on the same night, huge fights for both of us. And it’s all kind of had a weird synergy to it where, yeah, it’s just slotted into place. So it’s been an easy time. Now we’re together and we’re living together most of the time, we’re pretty comfortable with each other, and it’s kind of just mundane stuff like spending a Saturday together — we’re pretty good like that.
“The two of us have just found each other. Like, wow, this is actually way easier than I thought it would be.”
It hasn’t always been easy, though. Ups and downs are part of any functional relationship, especially with how bizarrely dysfunctional life can be in a sport like MMA, and Saturday won’t be the couple’s first time competing together. Rewind to December 2024 — Oktagon 65 in Pudilová’s home country of the Czech Republic. It was a big night for Fleury, as he claimed his first title — the same belt he defends against Muradov.
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Pudilová, though, dropped a split decision after a hellish week, to say the least.
Her brother passed away right before the fight, and her scheduled foe — Szabová, the same woman Pudilová faces on Saturday — withdrew, bringing in a short-notice opponent.
Because of the circumstances, Fleury and Pudilová were in contact throughout the preparation but not side by side. Fleury was the main event that night, and was heavily invested in what was going on with Pudilová, but this time around he feels even more invested in her fight than his own, drawing experience from what they did that first time.
Like Fleury did then, Pudilová this time has to juggle the mental difficulties of fighting last.
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“I didn’t like knowing she was fighting while I was warming up,” Fleury says. “I had to block it out completely. … Then after the fight, I asked if she won. [Pudilová’s cornerman] was like, ‘No, she lost a split decision.’ That really put a different spin on the night. I’m glad I didn’t know before. I’m glad I thought she won while I was fighting.
“So this time for her, I would say the best thing is to just not know what’s happening. Lock yourself in the dressing room. Do your warm-up, do everything. Walk out, be tunnel-visioned. If I’ve done the job, you’ll see me at the walkout with the belts.”
Fleury is in an equally tricky position regarding his approach to Saturday night. He wants to do as much as he can for his partner, whether that’s cornering or interacting with Pudilová before she makes it to the cage. The problem is it would likely spoil his fight result. If she doesn’t see him, does that mean he lost? If she does see him and he’s bruised up, it could mean the same thing, right?
In this case, ignorance may truly be bliss.
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Oktagon determined the event’s headliner bout via an online vote, putting it in the hands of the people. So while Pudilová is flattered to receive the love and respect, she admits she finds herself in the same boat of uncertainty as her companion.
“I feel like this is a big opportunity for women’s MMA to show also we are [as] good [as the men], but for me, it would maybe also be easier to go first,” Pudilová says.
“[But either way,] I will be also happy in this situation.”
It could be a weekend of heartbreak or jubilation for Pudilová and Fleury. (Photo credit: Oktagon)
The combat sports journeys for both fighters stretch well past the decade mark at this point, and despite Fleury (17-3) being five years older, Pudilová (17-11) even has him beat in fight experience. But now everything has led them to this point.
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Runs in the UFC. Runs in Bellator and PFL. Both have been on the grandest stages available, yet neither have faced anything like what they’re attempting to accomplish this weekend. That’s the beauty of their story, though.
No matter the results in the cage, they’ll be exactly that: Together.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have been ready 10 years ago, but I’m really grateful for the fact that I’ve gotten here, where there can be so much on the line in one night, where we can both fight for titles,” Fleury says.
“Sport, it can break your heart, or it can make your life. I feel like we’ve done the work to make it like, this is going to be a positive thing. This is going to be great. And if not, f*** it, we’ll learn from it. We probably won’t get a chance to do something this big together [again] — unless we both hold belts and we’re fighting at the end of the year together.”
