Lethal Bellator welterweight Michael “Venom” Page just competed in an MMA cage at May 25’s Bellator 200, but that didn’t stop him from picking up a second straight knockout in boxing.
After finishing longtime vet David Rickels via brutal retirement, the flashy British star has an unbeaten 13-0 record in MMA, and he improved to an undefeated 2-0 in boxing today. The rising star made his boxing debut in October 2017 with a third-round TKO of Jonathan Castano.
Taking on Michal Clach in a light heavyweight bout from York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom, Page knocked Clach down in the first round and then stopped the fight with a missile-like right hand at the very start of the second frame.
Watch the full fight courtesy of Boxing Pride on YouTube here:
This past Friday (May 25, 2018), Gegard Mousasi scored a first-round stoppage victory over Rafael Carvalho in the main event of Bellator 200 from London, England to become the promotion’s 185-pound champion.
Following the victory, Mousasi called out welterweight champion Rory MacDonald, who has expressed his interest in fighting Mousasi as well. Speaking today (May 29, 2018), however, MacDonald implied that Bellator is undecided on whether or not the fight will be made:
“The feeling I’m getting because I’ve been going back and forth with them a lot because I’m very interested and I’m pushing for this fight, so I’ve been messaging (Bellator president) Scott (Coker), messaging (Bellator vice president of talent relations) Richard Chou, and the feeling I’m getting from them is they don’t know,” MacDonald said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I think they’re going to meet about it with everyone who makes those kinds of decisions and I think they’ll make an executive decision at that point.
“Obviously, me and Gegard want it and I think the fans want it. I think it would be the biggest fight that Bellator, that they could put on right now. In my opinion, if they pass this opportunity by, it would be a mistake because how often can you get this kind of timing and one fight could change the direction of any one of our careers, so I think the opportunity is now and we should take it.”
As far as why he wants the fight himself, MacDonald detailed ‘multiple reasons’ for wanting to share the cage with Mousasi:
“For multiple reasons,” MacDonald said. “Number one, it was my goal to be a champion of middleweight and welterweight. And then Gegard’s been hunting the fight between us, he wants to fight me and I obviously want what he has, so I think that’s great timing. He’s one of the best guys in the world at 185, so who better to fight for a world title at middleweight than him?”
MacDonald, a mainstay of the UFC’s welterweight division for years, signed with Bellator in 2016 following a two-fight losing streak. Since then, however, he’s won back-to-back fights over the likes of Paul Daley and Douglas Lima.
Mousasi, on the other hand, signed with Bellator in July 2017 and has won back-to-back fights as well, beating Alexander Shlemenko in his debut before stopping Carvalho. He’s currently riding a seven-fight win streak.
This weekend was full of action in the combat sports world from the UK, with Bellator 200 taking place Friday (May 26, 2018) from the SSE Arena in London, England and UFC Fight Night 130 taking place yesterday (May 27, 2018) from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.
Starting off with Bellator 200, the main event featured a middleweight title fight between Rafael Carvalho and Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi ended up dominating the fight and scoring a first-round finish to become the promotion’s new 185-pound champion.
In the co-main event, welterweight standout Michael “Venom” Page outclassed opponent David Rickels, as Rickels verbally submitted in the second round.
Moving on to UFC Fight Night 130, the main event played host to a highly-anticipated welterweight bout between Stephen Thompson and Liverpool native Darren Till. The fight, which was rather uneventful, may not have delivered in the eyes of many and Till ended up winning a somewhat controversial unanimous decision.
The co-main event saw veteran Neil Magny score a first-round TKO victory over late replacement Craig White.
With both events now in the rearview mirror, let’s take a look at some of the best fights to make moving forward:
Steven Flynn for USA TODAY Sports
Gegard Mousasi vs. Rory MacDonald
Former UFC welterweight title challenger and reigning Bellator welterweight champion MacDonald has previously expressed his interest in moving up in weight to challenge for another title.
Following his first-round victory on Friday, newly-minted middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi called out MacDonald in his post-fight interview. The “Red King” then took to Twitter to share his continued interest in the bout.
Ultimately, Mousasi and MacDonald are two of the best fighters in the world and without question two top fighters in their respective weight classes. Both appear to be in the prime of their respective careers and are interested in fighting each other.
A bout between the two would be one of the biggest Bellator could possibly put together and with neither champion having a clear challenger awaiting him, the timing makes sense too.
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