‘Someone will walk on to something ugly’ – MVP at middleweight

Michael “Venom” Page last competed in a middleweight fight almost 12 years ago in Mumbai.

Page, age 26, was only competing in his fifth fight and had only been there for five months.

The Englishman made short work of his opponent, securing a first-round submission.

Page, who has spent the majority of his MMA career as a welterweight, recalls the trip well and is aware of how careless he was in the professional world.

“I was still new to the sport. I didn’t know what was good and bad. You can tell what’s organised or not, but you didn’t know if that was normal or not”, Page said.

It’s strange that my opponent and I were essentially warming up in the same room as each other during the fight.

In Saudi Arabia, Page will face unbeaten UFC middleweight champion Sharabutdin Magomedov on February 1, 2025.

Before making their walks to the octagon, they won’t be expected to warm up in the same room.

“Shara has that]aura] around him but I can see in his ability something I can exploit”, Page said.

“If I put the ‘ MVP ‘ effect in front of him, it might ruin all of that. Just something I saw there that made sense to me, I believe.

But the opportunity to fight Magomedov, who has 12 knockouts in his 15 wins, was a challenge Page couldn’t turn down. Additionally, Page could still eat his Christmas dinner.

“I still had a good Christmas”, he said.

“If there is exciting fights to be made at middleweight, I would happily take it. However, the main goal is a belt from the welterweight championship.

I’m going to work as hard as I can to earn that belt and advance in the rankings.

Armen Petrosyan, 30, and Magomedov, 30, both won his previous fight in incredible fashion, landing a right backfist before spinning round to land the same shot with his left hand.

Page says no-one has been able to come up with the right gameplan to beat Magomedov, but feels his own” unorthodox “striking style will be perfect for his opponent’s aggressive approach.

” Nobody’s got it quite right yet. My time to show everyone, “Page said.

Someone will walk on something ugly in what they say will be an explosive fight.

Page has previously engaged in fights with British rival Leon Edwards in London while he was a Bellator pilot.

In a massive all-British fight in 2019, he defeated bitter rival Paul Daley, but Bellator made the decision to fight in the United States.

Page said, “I can’t possibly fight on a London card in the UFC.”

“Paul Daley, they did abroad, it was silly. It didn’t need to happen the way it happened. I was irritated by it then, and I’m still irritated by it today.

In the UK, “it definitely should have happened.” Although we don’t share nearly as much animosity, the fight is just as exciting.