Don’t expect extreme levels of heated verbal exchanges from Michael “Venom” Page during his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) run.
UFC CEO, Dana White, surprised the mixed martial arts (MMA) world with a handful of fight announcements right after UFC 296 this past weekend (Dec. 16, 2023). Amongst the bunch was the promotional debut of the longtime Bellator superstar Welterweight contender, Page (21-2), who will take on Kevin Holland at UFC 299 on March 9, 2024.
“MVP” and Holland have both never been shy to say what’s on their minds about their opponents. However, after the UFC 296 fight week, a bit of a sour taste was left in the air from the interactions between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, and the upcoming Middleweight title tilt, pitting the champion, Sean Strickland, against Dricus Du Plessis. While Page expects some banter with his “Big Mouth” opponent, he’ll never take it to the lengths Covington, in particular, did before fight night.
“The trash-talking is going to be good, but respectful,” Page said on The MMA Hour. “What I’ve been seeing so far in combat sports, I hate. I don’t like people talking about people’s fathers, people’s wives, people’s girlfriends, people’s kids, all of that stuff. We need to go back to martial arts.
“Everyone seems to have lost themselves a little bit,” he continued. “I have zero respect for people that feel the need to go that way. We’re skillful athletes, and that should be enough. I’m all for the banter, I’m all for the jokes and keeping it kind of friendly, and that should be enough to build a fight. We can keep the intensity, but it should stay between me and the person that’s fighting, and that’s it.”
UFC has enacted punishments in the past for certain instances that violated its seemingly now-defunct code of conduct. Ideally, Page wouldn’t be opposed to seeing monetary fines make a return to help avoid such volatility as was expressed ahead of the final UFC event of 2023.
“When it gets that kind of personal, real stuff can actually happen, and it falls back on the UFC,” Page said. “Hopefully, they’ve seen that it’s getting a bit too much, and they tighten it up. But on a positive note, I think me and Holland are going to be the way it should be.”
Page, 36, last fought in MMA at Bellator 292 when he scored a nasty 26-second technical knockout over Goiti Yamauchi via leg kick (watch highlights) in March 2023.