Michael Page will indeed face off with Fernando Gonzalez after earning his 10th straight win to start his MMA career.
Page and Gonzalez, along with Linton Vassell-Francis Carmont, were made official by Bellator for the upcoming event in London, Bell…
Michael Page will indeed face off with Fernando Gonzalez after earning his 10th straight win to start his MMA career.
Page and Gonzalez, along with Linton Vassell-Francis Carmont, were made official by Bellator for the upcoming event in London, Bellator 158. That card features a main event between Kimbo Slice and James Thompson.
Page (10-0) scored a victory over Jeremie Holloway Friday night with a toe hold submission for his ninth career finish. Gonzalez (25-13) picked up a split decision over veteran Gilbert Smith recently, pushing his win streak to five.
The two welterweights were scheduled for March before an injury knocked Page out.
Vassell (16-5) bested former Bellator champion Emanuel Newton at Bellator 149 earlier this year and is 11-2 over his last 13. He’ll also have the home-crowd advantage being a native of England vs. Carmont (24-11), who is a former UFC fighter.
The other bout announced previously will feature Josh Koscheck taking on Paul Daley.
After pulling out of Bellator 151, undefeated MMA contender Michael “Venom” Page’s return to the cage isn’t far away.
“MVP” will make his fighting return at Bellator 153, as he meets Jeremie Holloway in a welterweight bout on the main card airing on…
After pulling out of Bellator 151, undefeated MMA contender Michael “Venom” Page’s return to the cage isn’t far away.
“MVP” will make his fighting return at Bellator 153, as he meets Jeremie Holloway in a welterweight bout on the main card airing on Spike TV.
Page (7-0), will fight Holloway (7-1), who lost his first MMA fight in his Bellator debut against Matt Secor in his last trip to the cage.
Headlined by former UFC Lightweight Champion Benseon Henderson’s Bellator debut against Andrey Koreshkov for the Bellator Welterweight Championship, Bellator 153 takes place from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on April 22, 2016.
While winning is typically most important to a fighter, mixed martial arts (MMA) is also a business, and a business that pays well towards those who entertain. One could be a truly elite level fighter, but simply not garner the same attention as others because fans feel as if he or she is boring so
While winning is typically most important to a fighter, mixed martial arts (MMA) is also a business, and a business that pays well towards those who entertain.
One could be a truly elite level fighter, but simply not garner the same attention as others because fans feel as if he or she is boring so to say.
With that being said, we’ve seen the emergence of many fighters over the years that are willing to take risks, try new things, and show off their wide variety of skillsets, and in return, they are deemed as entertaining.
Aside from the entertainment factor, using unorthodox techniques can also prove to be confusing towards opponents.
Not all fighters or athletes have the special tools needed to open the eyes of fans around the world, but those that due are usually revered because of it.
English welterweight Michael “Venom” Page (7-0) has become one of the most consistently thrilling MMA fighters in the world. This is the dude who won his pro MMA debut via tornado kick, in the world’s first-ever “just gonna stand here for a while” knockout (see above). He won his Bellator debut in just 10 seconds. In his second Bellator fight, he did this to Ricky Rainey. His decision win last month over Strikeforce/UFC veteran Nah-Shon Burrell marked the first time that one of Page’s fights made it out of the first round.
No, we’ve never heard of the guy either, and his nickname deserves itsown post. (“My 3rd-grade teacher gave me that name, and it just stuck” — made-up quote from Curtis Millender.) Apparently, he’s a 7-0 fighter from San Berdoo, with all of his fights taking place in the OC Fight Club promotion. He’s a coach at the UFC Gym in Fullerton, and comes from a wrestling background. He only has two stoppage wins to his name, including a 48-second doctor’s stoppage TKO of TUF 16 castmember James Chaney last month.
Okay, maybe it’s not fair to write this dude off as dead meat before we’ve even seen him. Watch the promo video below, and you’ll see Millender throw some flashy attacks that we might describe as “Page-esque in their execution, Joe.” Plus, at the 0:36 mark, he makes his opponent do the stankiest stanky-leg we have ever seen in sanctioned competition. So that’s pretty cool.
English welterweight Michael “Venom” Page (7-0) has become one of the most consistently thrilling MMA fighters in the world. This is the dude who won his pro MMA debut via tornado kick, in the world’s first-ever “just gonna stand here for a while” knockout (see above). He won his Bellator debut in just 10 seconds. In his second Bellator fight, he did this to Ricky Rainey. His decision win last month over Strikeforce/UFC veteran Nah-Shon Burrell marked the first time that one of Page’s fights made it out of the first round.
No, we’ve never heard of the guy either, and his nickname deserves itsown post. (“My 3rd-grade teacher gave me that name, and it just stuck” — made-up quote from Curtis Millender.) Apparently, he’s a 7-0 fighter from San Berdoo, with all of his fights taking place in the OC Fight Club promotion. He’s a coach at the UFC Gym in Fullerton, and comes from a wrestling background. He only has two stoppage wins to his name, including a 48-second doctor’s stoppage TKO of TUF 16 castmember James Chaney last month.
Okay, maybe it’s not fair to write this dude off as dead meat before we’ve even seen him. Watch the promo video below, and you’ll see Millender throw some flashy attacks that we might describe as “Page-esque in their execution, Joe.” Plus, at the 0:36 mark, he makes his opponent do the stankiest stanky-leg we have ever seen in sanctioned competition. So that’s pretty cool.
(#BeCurtious is never going to happen.)
In short, Michael Page is being brought along verrrrrry slowwwwwly by Bellator. And I guess that makes sense from a promotional standpoint. If fans are tuning in to watch this guy tornado-kick people to death, you might as well give them what they want.
Check out the GIF highlights and the complete results below (all via Zombie Prophet):
Bubba McDaniel vs. Emiliano Sordi:
The GIF tells the entire story of this fight. McDaniel shot in and earned a tight guillotine choke for his efforts. It was a slick submission win for Sordi.
Alexander Sarnavskiy vs. Dakota Cochrane:
Domination was in vogue at Bellator 128. Sarnavskiy vs. Cochrane was just as one-sided as Sordi vs. McDaniel. Sarnavskiy made Cochrane look like he hadn’t boxed in his life. After rocking him on the feet and flooring him, Sarnavskiy sunk in a rear naked choke.
Michael Page vs. Nah Shon Burrell:
The fight many expected to be the fight of the night turned out to be a dud. There weren’t many highlights from this match. Burrell tried to wall-and-stall Page, but Page managed to land far more strikes. He won via decision. The GIF above shows off a post-fight scuffle between the two fighters–or it shows officials trying to break up a hug. You decide.
Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Warren:
Much to our surprise, Joe Warren managed to defeat Eduardo Dantas! Warren out-wrestled and out-hustled the Brazilian, who seemed disinterested in the fight. To use a terrible cliche, Warren just WANTED IT MORE [barfs from using that phrase]. Warren’s performance was of the gritty wrestler variety. As such, it doesn’t lend itself to GIF highlights. So what we have above is an illegal kick to the head of a grounded Dantas. Big John McCarthy didn’t take a point for this infraction, which caused some controversy among MMA fans on Twitter.
Here are the complete results:
Main Card
Joe Warren def. Eduardo Dantas via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Michael Page def. NahShon Burrell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alexander Sarnavskiy def. Dakota Cochrane via submission (rear naked choke), 2:32 of round 1.
Emiliano Sordi def. Bubba McDanial via submission (guillotine), 0:58 of round 1.
Preliminary Card
Cortez Coleman def. William Florentino via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Andreas Michailidis vs. Jason Butcher via TKO (strikes) at :28 of round 2.
Emmanuel Sanchez def. Stephen Banaszak via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:18 of round 1.
John Teixeira def. Scott Cleve via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
J.C. Cottrell def Jonathan Gary via submission (guillotine) at 3:38 of round 2.
Brandon Seyler def. Demario Cade via submission (rear naked choke) at 2:25 of round 1.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney didn’t give out the gate numbers at the post-fight presser, even when asked (which probably means they were bad). And it’s still too early to know how Bellator 120 performed at the box office. So, financially, Bellator’s first PPV can’t definitively be called a success or a failure.
Regarding entertainment value, however, Bellator 120 was a success. There were some pacing issues, yes, but overall the card delivered.
In the first fight, Michael Page did his best Anderson Silva impression, knocking out Ricky Rainey (who’s name was hilariously spelled wrong at the post-fight presser) after taunting him mercilessly. In the next bout, former Bellator heavyweight champ Alexander Volkov scored an upset submission win over Blagoi Ivanov.
Then came Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko. Ortiz was the laughing stock of this card, without a doubt. He was a relic from a bygone era who hadn’t won a fight in three years. His ridiculous pre-fight promos (he promised to make Shlemenko “literally shit himself”) only made him look worse. Shlemenko, on the other hand, was Bellator’s middleweight champ and a stern Russian killer. He’d have no problem with Ortiz despite the considerable size difference, or so the world thought. But Ortiz won the fight. He submitted Shlemenko with an arm-triangle choke in the very first round. Then he gave the worst post-fight interview of all time; he pretended to be Hulk Hogan.
As crazy as Ortiz-Shlemenko was, it wasn’t the emotional high point of the PPV, nor was Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks. Chandler-Brooks was not a particularly anticipated match. In fact, the entire Bellator PPV was centered around the rubber match between Chandler and Eddie Alvarez. When Alvarez withdrew due to a concussion, many thought it meant death for Bellator 120. Will Brooks was thrown in against Chandler, but it was a squash match—or at least that’s what conventional wisdom held. But Brooks upended fans and pundits, beating Chandler via split decision. He was made of sterner stuff than we all gave him credit for.
Then we had the main event, Rampage Jackson vs. King Mo. The fight itself was banal. Mo dominated Rampage with wrestling while Rampage landed a couple of decent shots throughout the fight. It seemed like a pretty easy decision win for King Mo, but the judges didn’t see it that way; they awarded Rampage with a unanimous decision. What happened after the fight was the real draw though. King Mo and Rampage started jaw-jacking. During the Spike TV portion of the broadcast, King Mo accused Bjorn Rebney of “dick riding” Rampage. He didn’t hold in such feelings in his post-fight speech, nor did he silence himself at the post-fight presser. Him and Rampage yelled at each other while the presser stream intermittently died possibly due to the sheer volume of viewers.
So what’s the fallout?
(Because Getty had no images from last night. / Photo via Getty)
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney didn’t give out the gate numbers at the post-fight presser, even when asked (which probably means they were bad). And it’s still too early to know how Bellator 120 performed at the box office. So, financially, Bellator’s first PPV can’t definitively be called a success or a failure.
Regarding entertainment value, however, Bellator 120 was a success. There were some pacing issues, yes, but overall the card delivered.
In the first fight, Michael Page did his best Anderson Silva impression, knocking out Ricky Rainey (who’s name was hilariously spelled wrong at the post-fight presser) after taunting him mercilessly. In the next bout, former Bellator heavyweight champ Alexander Volkov scored an upset submission win over Blagoi Ivanov.
Then came Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko. Ortiz was the laughing stock of this card, without a doubt. He was a relic from a bygone era who hadn’t won a fight in three years. His ridiculous pre-fight promos (he promised to make Shlemenko “literally shit himself”) only made him look worse. Shlemenko, on the other hand, was Bellator’s middleweight champ and a stern Russian killer. He’d have no problem with Ortiz despite the considerable size difference, or so the world thought. But Ortiz won the fight. He submitted Shlemenko with an arm-triangle choke in the very first round. Then he gave the worst post-fight interview of all time; he pretended to be Hulk Hogan.
As crazy as Ortiz-Shlemenko was, it wasn’t the emotional high point of the PPV, nor was Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks. Chandler-Brooks was not a particularly anticipated match. In fact, the entire Bellator PPV was centered around the rubber match between Chandler and Eddie Alvarez. When Alvarez withdrew due to a concussion, many thought it meant death for Bellator 120. Will Brooks was thrown in against Chandler, but it was a squash match—or at least that’s what conventional wisdom held. But Brooks upended fans and pundits, beating Chandler via split decision. He was made of sterner stuff than we all gave him credit for.
Then we had the main event, Rampage Jackson vs. King Mo. The fight itself was banal. Mo dominated Rampage with wrestling while Rampage landed a couple of decent shots throughout the fight. It seemed like a pretty easy decision win for King Mo, but the judges didn’t see it that way; they awarded Rampage with a unanimous decision. What happened after the fight was the real draw though. King Mo and Rampage started jaw-jacking. During the Spike TV portion of the broadcast, King Mo accused Bjorn Rebney of “dick riding” Rampage. He didn’t hold in such feelings in his post-fight speech, nor did he silence himself at the post-fight presser. Him and Rampage yelled at each other while the presser stream intermittently died possibly due to the sheer volume of viewers.
So what’s the fallout?
It’s tough to parse this one out, Potato Nation.
Michael Page looked great, which is obviously a good thing for Bellator. And there’s not much to say about Ivanov vs. Volkov. It was a good fight. Volkov will get a title shot at Vitaly Minakov, and Ivanov will likely get placed into another heavyweight tournament sometime soon.
Ortiz-Shlemenko is tough to pass judgement on. Bellator obviously has more invested in Ortiz, so him winning his first fight under their banner is a positive thing. Now he can be featured in other fight cards. How much Ortiz’s presence will increase viewership remains to be seen. Still, it’s better than him losing, which would’ve damaged whatever remaining value his name had beyond repair. However, no good can come from your middleweight champion losing to an ancient UFC washout and has been—and looking like a total scrub while doing it.
At first, it seemed like Will Brooks defeating Michael Chandler destroyed the Bellator lightweight division. But apparently Eddie Alvarez can demand to fight Chandler anyway, meaning Brooks’ victory didn’t wreck the much-anticipated rubber match between Alvarez and Chandler. Brooks beating Chandler helps get him over as a legitimate talent. Brooks winning, while maybe not optimal, isn’t the disaster people made it out to be.
Last night’s crown jewel was Rampage vs. King Mo, and not because of what happened in the cage. It was all about the post-fight hysterics. The questionable decision and (now seemingly legitimate) beef between the two makes a rematch enticing from a promotional standpoint, something that couldn’t have been said if either man decisively finished the other.
The PPV could’ve gone much worse. Could it have been better? Maybe. There have been worse UFC PPVs that we paid more money for. Bellator 120 didn’t go bad enough to destroy Bellator, but it certainly didn’t go good enough to bring the Viacom-owned promotion to new heights of excellence. If nothing else, Bellator 120 was a perfect example of the inherent insanity that makes MMA special.
