Michael Page set the Twitter world on fire after a 10-second Bellator debut that left his opponent, Ryan Sanders, bloody and beaten, helplessly balled up in the center of the cage.
The finishing blow—an unorthodox right hand—looked phenomenal at first glance.
From the punch itself to the its setup to Page’s lanky frame and agile movements, the fight reminded MMA fans of a certain Brazilian fighter who happens to be the pound-for-pound king of today.
No, not Cesar Gracie, silly.
It’s terribly hasty to compare any young, relatively unproven fighter to Anderson Silva, but there was simply no denying the similarities between Page and “The Spider” in this bout.
Page was powerful.
He was quick.
He was inhumanly accurate.
He was…fighting in a rigged bout?
Note the question mark there. I am not saying this fight was rigged.
I am, however, saying that we should take a closer look at the finishing blow.
Check out this gif of Page’s finish at Bellator 93 courtesy of @Zprophet_mma.
What do we see here, class?
A rocketing right hand is thrown, yes. But does it land?
To me, it looks like it barely glances Sanders’ cheek, certainly not a cause for the dramatic reaction on his part.
The worst part of this—if it is eventually revealed to be a work—is that Page probably would have crushed Sanders anyway…in a real fight.
Thanks to his already impressive highlight reel, undefeated record and undeniable swag, Page was primed to be a superstar without the help of business executives pulling strings to ensure his success.
Then again, if that is the case, it is hard to blame Bellator in this instance.
I mean, this just happened to their marquee fighter at Bellator 90, so maybe a little “assistance” was necessary to make sure Page sailed into his next fight with a still-unblemished record.
Like I said, though. I’m not trying to say Sanders definitely took a dive against Page at Bellator 93 10 seconds into Round 1.
But I’m also saying I’m not blind, and neither are you (presumably), so check out the gif and let me know what you think.
Did Bellator try to dupe us or was the punch just that incredible?
For fans of MMA, heavy metal or general absurdity, Follow @HunterAHomistek
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