Not all angels have wings. Some have one-punch knockout power and slams that rival the legendary Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Damacio Page, The Angel of Death, isn’t the kind of person to sit around and come up with cool nicknames to get over with fans. Quite the contrary; the tatted-up Legacy FC flyweight champion is a fighter through and through, void of any spectacle-enabling shenanigans.
Everything in Page’s life has been earned through hard work and sacrifice, including the catchy nickname he is so often asked about.
“I was fighting in Montreal, and I was fighting Thierry Quenneville,” Page told Bleacher Report on Monday. “I picked him up and Rampage slammed him, and one of the guys that was cornering me in the back, a French Canadian guy, was all excited. ‘Georges St-Pierre asked’ my name, ‘It was crazy. You were like an angel of death. You took that guy’s life.’ And I was like, ‘Cool man, that’s my nickname.’”
Most of you might remember Page from his stint as a bantamweight in the UFC and WEC.
During his days in the WEC, he was a highly touted contender, who earned wins over Scott Jorgensen, Will Campuzano and current Bellator champion Marcos Galvao. He even managed to steal a round from UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson back in the blue-cage days.
The potential was definitely there for Page, despite being shoved into the limelight at an early age. He managed to put together some solid wins before dropping four straight losses and getting cut by the UFC. Being denied a spot on the UFC roster really forced Page to do some soul searching and reexamine himself as a fighter.
Fortunately, an opportunity arose to fight for Legacy FC, a budding MMA promotion on AXS TV. After spending nearly a year on the sidelines, Page returned with a vengeance as a flyweight, knocking out Patrick Ybarra in the first round.
It was the kind of performance we’ve grown to expect from The Angel of Death. The 32-year-old star has gone 4-1 since dropping to flyweight, with the one loss being a controversial split decision.
“I’m coming into my own, just fighting the way I fight and growing up as a fighter,” he said. “That’s the biggest attribute that happened was that I needed to grow up.”
For all of the talk of the UFC, this weekend’s Legacy FC vs. RFA Superfight card has all of the makings of a big event. Fans have always dreamed of major promotions coming together and pitting its best fighters against one another.
On Friday night, Page is slated to fight RFA flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja. The backdrop for this event from a promotional perspective revolves around bragging rights. One would think there would be added pressure for Page in the main event spot, but he refuses to get caught up in all of the excitement of a cross-promotional event.
At the end of the day, it’s simply another fight.
“It is what it is, I just want to fight. So whoever it is they put in front of me, a champion from another organization, I really don’t care,” said Page. “Part of my ultimate goal is to get back to the big shows and do what I do best. They’re all pluses, but at the end of the day, it’s my job to do what I’m here to do, and I got to get back to where I belong.”
Getting back to where he belongs has helped Page weed out the recent distractions at Jackson’s MMA, the same camp that houses former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
A week ago, the 27-year-old fighter was stripped of the title and suspended indefinitely from the UFC, after being arrested on a felony for an alleged hit-and-run incident involving a pregnant woman in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The story has loomed like a dark cloud over MMA headlines.
However, you’d be sadly mistaken if you think the ongoing issues surrounding Jones had any impact whatsoever on Page’s mental preparation for perhaps the biggest fight of his career.
“I don’t pay attention to that,” Page said. “That’s his own life, his own business so I don’t have nothing to really say about that. At the end of the day, I’m here to do my job, what I do, and I leave people’s business as their business. At the end of the day, I’m here to be me.”
Pantoja trains at the famous Nova Uniao camp in Brazil alongside UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo and former UFC bantamweight champ Renan Barao. He is currently riding an eight-fight win streak.
Page plans on introducing his fists to Pantoja’s face unlike any other flyweight. He has no predictions on what will happen when the bomb drops. Either Pantoja will be standing or he won’t be.
“I can’t tell you. I’m going to do what I got to do. If he’s standing, he’s standing; if he’s not, he’s not.”
RFA vs. Legacy Superfight takes place on May 8 in Robinsonville, Mississippi. The event will air live on AXS TV.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
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