Mixed martial arts continues to develop. UFC color commentator and three combat sport black belt Joe Rogan has identified sport karate as the next style that will significantly impact MMA. In the UFC, the greatest representative of a karate-based approach is Stephen Thompson. In Bellator, that honor goes to welterweight Michael ‘Venom’ Page.
Page is coming off another spectacular win, over Jeremie Holloway at Bellator 153, via Toehold of all things.
Although Page is now undefeated at 10-0, there has been criticism he hasn’t face top talent. The English fighter appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and said he is ready for anything, including a title shot at division champion Andrey Koreshkov or lightweight champion Will Brooks?, should ‘Ill WIll’ drop a division.
“I think I am now,” said Page, as transcribed by Chuck Mindenhall for MMA Fighting. “I definitely am now.”
“I understand why people want me to. I already see what can happen. None of these names in that sense, they don’t mean anything to me. It genuinely doesn’t mean anything to me. I don’t deal with my fights. My coaches do, and Bellator does. So it’s between them. I get a name…and I start training.”
“A lot of people are in the industry chasing something. I don’t chase it, I do what I do and things come to me. So, I see the lights there and all these moths are chasing going towards the light, and I’m standing here doing what I do and the light just comes like this…and then all of a sudden I’m going to have the belt. I genuinely believe that.”
“It’s funny because I remember a guy posting online, like, ‘that style never worked, look what happened to Anderson Silva.’ So I was like, if I could choose to have any kind of career, it would still be Anderson Silva’s one. Look at how long of a success of he was…look how long he was successful before that happened with that style.”
“I think [Bellator is] an amazing production company. They know how to put on a show. Putting on a show means, one, drawing eyes; two, bringing up the up-and-comers; three, making sure the guys that are already relevant stay relevant by matching them up well. Just the whole production, I love everything that they’re doing.”
“Kimbo, regardless of what anybody says, he’s got a massive fan base and he knows how to fight as in…obviously he’s more of a striker, but he was a warrior from way back when. We used to watch him on YouTube, and he brings in numbers.
“So for guys like me, if I’m fighting on the same show as him, he brings the numbers and if people spot me and they’re like, ‘who’s that guy now?’ There’s no way I’m going to complain about that, in any way, shape or form. A fight is a fight, and anything can happen.”
Page has two fights left on his contract, which means he could in theory end up in the UFC, but he seems happy where he is.
“I’m sure we’re going to talk very soon. Obviously the focus is London at the moment, so I don’t want to be in any kind of contract talks for now. I just want to focus on the London [card]. But I’m sure straight after that we’ll be talking after that, but I’m happy at Bellator. I’m ridiculously happy at Bellator.”
Page fights 25-13 Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 158 in London on July 16 in a ‘big tent’ event.
