Athletes
Michael 'Venom' Page | This One's For The Fans
The One And Only "MVP" Has Made His Name From Being An Entertaining Fighter, And He's Stepping Way Out Of His Comfort Zone For An All-Action Encounter In Saudi Arabia
English welterweight contender Michael "Venom" Page still has designs on a title shot at 170 pounds, but his love of exciting fights has taken him on a weekend break to the middleweight division.
For the first time, Page will compete in MMA at 185 pounds, as he faces Russian knockout artist Shara "Bullet" Magomedov in the co-main event in Riyadh this weekend. It's the sort of fight that immediately begs the question, "why?"
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For Page, that's an easy question to answer.
"Very simply, he called out a friend of mine, Izzy (Adesanya), claiming to be the best striker," he said.
"And I was like, 'I'll happily prove you wrong before you even get a chance to fight my boy.' So that's it."
But that wasn't everything. A bout with Magomedov offers lifelong striker Page the chance to test his standup skills against another exponent of the striking arts, and someone with a vastly different style to his own.
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It's a fight that has the fans excited for what's about to play out inside the Octagon in Saudi Arabia, and you can count Page among that group, too.
"I always say this, I'm a fan as much as I am a fighter," he said.
"Every fan can look at this fight and they'll feel exactly the same way that I'm feeling. And it is pure excitement.
"It's like, when these two exceptional strikers come together, what's going to happen?
"For me, I'm seeing it from a slightly different angle, of like, not just what's going to happen (but) how am I going to overcome this?
"That challenge, it boils a certain fire of excitement inside me to want to just train hard to get to this point and then just make it happen."
The two fighters may both be known as strikers, but they come from very different backgrounds. Page came from the world of point-fighting, while Magomedov cut his teeth as a Muay Thai fighter. For both men, striking is their bread and butter. But, as Page suggested, versatility and diversity of skill could prove to be the difference maker on fight night.
"You're going to see two big egos collide," he grinned.
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"It's like two rams, just non-stop going back and forth until somebody's ego subsides and you might see them go to a different Plan B, Plan C, and try to work (it) a different way.
"We're both exceptionally confident in our styles, and that is what we're going to be putting forward first. The thing is, I've been working on other aspects of my game. I'm also confident that I can beat him in other areas. So, for me, I feel like there's a bit of an ego, a bit too much of an ego, for him to want to go elsewhere.
"So, even when he's stuck – if we're striking and I'm beating him and he's stuck – he'll probably continue staying in that space, which is fine for me. Whereas for me, I feel I can take him down. I can work him on the ground. I can stand him back up. I can mix and match the game. Whereas he'll just want to be in one area."
For Page, this is an opportunity to showcase his striking against an opponent who is likely to be a willing dance partner. It's a fan-friendly matchup, and when it comes to entertaining the fans, "MVP" is always one of the first to raise his hand.
"I'm always going to be for entertaining fights," he said.
"So while on track to pursuing my main goal, if there are detours of entertaining fights, I will 100 percent take that.
"If it's entertaining enough, it's big enough, it's good for myself, good for the UFC, good for the fans, I'll do it. But yeah, like I said, I haven't lost sight of what I want to do or I want to achieve."
That goal remains the undisputed UFC welterweight title and, as someone who meticulously studies the landscape in the 170-pound division, Page knows that there's an opportunity for him to make a run at the title when he returns to the division later this year.
"The exciting part of the welterweight division is it seems like nobody's really got their grasp on the welterweight belt," he said.
"People that are normally the ones that are always winning are not necessarily winning at the moment, you know? So there's a lot of moving parts. All the high ranks are dropping, which means there's movement, there's space for me to wiggle my way through.
"So yeah, I think it depends on what happens. Who loses, whatnot, but me having these kind of big fights, big knockouts, hopefully keeps pushing me towards the belt. So, we shall see soon."
UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs Imavov took place live from anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 1, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!