In mixed martial arts there has always been a demand for brilliant fighters who are ready to put on a real show and delight fans. Michael Page, with the sonorous nickname of Venom, is precisely this type of athlete, who has never hidden. Hence the serious interest in him on the part of the UFC. Dana White and the fighter himself no longer hide the fact of the negotiations, so it would be timely to remember who Michael Page is and why the best promotion in the world needs him.
The British man has been practicing martial arts since he was three years old. Not surprising, given that his father was a famous kickboxing trainer and kung fu practitioner, and his mother practiced wushu. It is thanks to the combination of all these techniques that Page fights with such a vibrant style. Michael trained hard and by the age of 23 he had won almost everything possible in kickboxing. In 2010, in one of the tournaments, Venom managed to fight as many as 22 fights, competing in five weight categories, and won them all. By the way, Michael’s family had 10 children and half of them became world kickboxing champions. Very impressive.
After conquering kickboxing and perfecting his striking technique, Page moved on to MMA and did not hide that the financial component plays an important role here. Also, since he was a showman, he wanted more attention. Venom began with a spectacular tornado knockout and immediately indicated that his fights would not be boring.
After only three fights, the newcomer signed with two promotions at once: Bellator and Super Fight. There, the Brit continued to effectively knock out his rivals and won fans and enemies alike. Michael’s style, with his harassment of opponents and his cage dancing, leaves no one indifferent. Some admire his brilliance, others hate him for disrespecting his opponents.
In the last battle, Venom inflicted a terrible wound on his opponent:
Keep women and children away from screens. The poison inflicted terrible wounds on the Japanese. Video
Venom himself assured that he respects each opponent, but he goes out to put on a show and entertain the public. Therefore, the beautiful one-punch knockouts continued and Page’s arsenal was very rich. He threw crazy kicks, called his opponents to fight and defiantly lowered his hands, and also organized spectacular celebrations immediately after victories. It helped a lot that Michael brought to his team everything he saw around him. He was inspired by Jackie Chan, tried to use elements of Michael Jackson’s dances in battles and all with impressive punching power.
At Bellator 158, Page faced Evangelista Santos, then-husband of Cris Cyborg. The Brazilian spoke with disgust about Venom’s disrespectful attitude towards his opponents and during the fight he received a strong blow to the head with his knee and collapsed. As it turned out later, the Briton literally broke his opponent’s skull and, without urgent surgery, would have been fatal. But immediately after the victory, Michael pretended to trap Santos in a Pokeball.
This was far from Page’s only knockout that was spread around the world. After defeating David Rickels, Ven put on the Thanos gauntlet from The Avengers and asked to be allowed to snap his fingers, literally nose-butted Derek Anderson’s head, and Richard Keeley went down from a flying knee. Page has two defeats: once his dangerous style failed and Douglas Lima brutally knocked him out, and not long ago Michael lost to Logan Storley.
Page later took revenge on Lima, but doubts remained:
The former Bellator champion was “robbed” in the rematch. MVP was helped by his family and his judges. Video
Despite his brilliance, Page did not reach great heights in MMA. He often prefers to fight with lower class boys, this does not prevent him from demonstrating his best qualities. In spin fights, serious problems can arise. Since Page is a strong striker, his fight is not going well. And keeping your hands down isn’t always safe. However, despite all this, Venom is a shining star. Mixed martial arts fans know him very well, he is able to “sell” fights and will help any league in terms of media exposure.
It is not surprising that the UFC wants to sign the Briton. Michael himself explains that he definitely wants to enter the world’s top promotion, but now the negotiations are not close to being completed and look more like a flirtation between the two parties. At the same time, the UFC is already preparing a potential fight between Page and Kevin Holland. Venom’s popularity is indirectly evidenced by the fact that Shavkat Rakhmonov, who is ranked sixth in the welterweight rankings, was ready to greet him. It would seem why spend money on such a fight, being one step away from a title shot, but Page is a big name, fights with him are interesting for everyone.
The only question is what plans the UFC has for the potential newcomer star. Maybe Michael will be paired with drummers like him and pushed into the top 5. Or maybe they’ll just give him to an up-and-coming wrestler to get a significant scalp for his collection. Either way, the UFC needs to sign Page. These fighters will always be popular and it is important for the organization to be heard. Additionally, it will help increase the popularity of MMA in England. There are only advantages for all sides; the UFC certainly won’t hurt itself by hiring such a fighter.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS