Michael “Venom” Page is still seeking his next fighting home.
After a 10-year run in Bellator, one of London, England’s favorite flashy superstar strikers is possibly moving on. Page, 36, revealed last month that he’s testing free agency waters and looks to take his career places it’s never been before.
While Page admits that he still could return to the Bellator cage, the myriad of options in the modern-day mixed martial arts (MMA) world was too much to pass up. In the case of joining the Welterweight ranks in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), “MVP” believes he deserves similar treatment to that of former three-time Bellator Lightweight champion, Michael Chandler, when “Iron” made the jump in Jan. 2021.
“Can I see myself there? 100 percent,” Page told FREESTYLEBENDER of joining UFC.
“I want top five, top 10 max. I don’t feel like I need to prove myself all over again,” he continued. “I just want to go in there … and we’ve seen it with Michael Chandler. He went in there, fought a top 10 Dan Hooker, great first win for him that just sprung him into title contention. That is the route I see myself in. I don’t see it in any other way. I don’t need a warm-up fight, and it’s not like I’ve been out of the game for ages. I’m ready to go now.”
Page has been nearly perfect in his 23-fight career, suffering defeat on only two occasions to future or former titleholders, Douglas Lima and Logan Storley. Page’s last fight came against Goiti Yamauchi at Bellator 292 in March 2023, defeating the submission wizard via a nasty leg kick technical knockout in 26 seconds (watch highlights). The Brit has also recently dabbled in bare-knuckle boxing, where he fought and lost a majority decision against Mike Perry in Aug. 2022 (watch highlights).