Bellator 200: “Carvalho vs. Mousasi” takes place at SSE Arena in London, England, tomorrow night (Fri., May 25, 2018). The milestone mixed martial arts (MMA) show for Bellator MMA features a main event between Middleweight champion, Rafael Carvalho (15-1), taking on former DREAM and Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi (43-6-2).
The stacked Paramount Network-televised card has even more action on deck, including a striking fan’s delight between Michael “Venom” Page (12-0) and “Caveman” David Rickels (19-4, 2 NC). Although Rickels often fights at 155 pounds and occasionally at a Catchweight (or up), the chance to match up with “MVP” and potentially be the first to hand him a loss was too good to resist. Six knockouts and six submissions to his name give him a good shot. The flashy Page is a natural striker in his own right with seven MMA knockouts in his young career to go along with three submissions. Even when he has crossover fights in other combat sports, Page tends to leave opponents looking at the lights. He’s inching ever closer to a No. 1 contender’s spot and an impressive win over Rickels could ice that cake.
MMAmania.com recently spoke with Page about fighting in the friendly confines of SSE Arena at Bellator 200 and returning to action after a knee injury derailed a London fight last year.
“No problems. I’ve had no problems with (the knee) this training camp, so I’m ready to rock and roll, man. You know obviously on top of me not being in the cage for a little while and everybody anticipating me coming back, I’m on my home turf, man. I’ve got that hometown advantage so it’s gonna be CRAZY exiting.”
That’s not just because an enthusiastic crowd will be spurring him on — it’s because Rickels loves a war as much as he loves not cutting weight. Page vows he’ll make it tactical, though.
“I’m a smart brother, I don’t have wars, man. That’s not my game, I don’t have wars. I go in there, I get my timing right, I position myself correct and I pull the trigger and that’s it — that’s all she wrote.”
With a fighter like “Caveman” that’s easier said than done. Tactical fighters always have a plan until they get punched in the face, and Rickels tends to swarm his opponents early and often.
“Honestly, I feel that’s perfect for me. It just means I get more shots off. You know I feel he’s a very tough guy, he’s gonna be coming forward a lot, which means he’s going to be in perfect range for my punches (and) perfect range for my kicks. He’s not gonna look the same after this fight.”
Page carries the confidence of an undefeated fighter with seven knockouts and three submissions, not to mention he’s 6’3” with 77-inch reach versus 6’0” with 72-inch reach. Page likes the fight in the dog, though.
“Him coming up (in weight) I think he’s experienced enough to know what he’s doing, so I don’t think it’s going to play a massive factor in the fight at all. I’m sure he understands the difference, the strength the weight division above may be carrying and so forth, so I think he’s definitely going to be well prepared for that.“
One fighter who seems to be unprepared to fight Page at any weight is Paul “Semtex” Daley. Despite accidentally being made the center of attention in Daley’s fight with Jon Fitch, Page is unfazed by it.
“Everyone knows exactly what my intentions were and who I wanted to fight. Now everyone knows the reason it didn’t go ahead. I’ve kind of lost interest in that fight. There’s no motivation, there’s no fire there anymore. I’ve just lost all respect for that person, the man you’re talking about, and that’s it! It’s just time to move on and look for other big fights.”
A “bigger fight” might just be a crack at Rory MacDonald for the Welterweight title, but Page is willing to bide his time until that opportunity — and a potentially more lucrative contract to go with it — comes calling.
“I feel like we kill ourselves in the gym, I’m talking not just for myself, but for every MMA fighter. When it comes to pushing our bodies to go for those bigger fights and those bigger names, I think we deserve to be paid accordingly. So once we sort out my contract with Bellator, then we’ll move forward onto those kind of fights (and) onto the world title fight.”
Those words made me somewhat suspicious that Page had short time left on his contract, but “Venom” assured me we’d be seeing him in Bellator for a while to come.
“No, I’ve got a few with them. I’ve got a few with them, but again, most organizations don’t wait until you’re right at the end before you start negotiating. We have spoken briefly already, but we’ll be probably be in proper sorts directly after this fight.”
The plan for Page is now crystal clear — not a plan for the fight itself, but the plan for how an impressive finish against Rickels in front of a raucous hometown crowd gives him negotiating leverage.
“Yeah, 100 percent, 100 percent. But, at the same time, I take that kind of finish ANYWAY. So regardless of what’s happening in the back office, that is the kind of fighter I am and that I’ll always strive to be.”
Page isn’t ruling out doing another boxing fight or a few more, though. In fact, “MVP” revealed he was ready to be on the “Bellew vs Haye 2” card, but the timing of Bellator 200 got in the way.
“Definitely, I’m gonna be stepping back in the ring. It’s been a bit difficult because Bellator wanted me to stay focused on the task at hand, otherwise I would have been on the David Haye show the other day. It was a big event so it was unfortunate to miss that, but obviously it was only 20 days outside of actually having taken this fight, so I understand their worry. As soon as this fight is finished I’m looking to you know jump back in the ring.”
If he dominates the boxing world the way he’s dominated Bellator’s 170-pound division, Michael “Venom” Page could be a two-sport world champion. Only time and a win over Rickels will tell.
Complete audio of our interview is embedded above, and complete coverage of Bellator 200: “Carvalho vs. Mousasi” resides here at MMAmania.com all week long.
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