Venom: I get why fans are impatient

A clip going viral can cause some kinks in a fighter’s career path. His first pro MMA fight was the sport karate star land an incredible walk away tornado kick KO.

From that point forward, fans wanted to see Venom face name fighters. But the welterweight prospect is instead wisely working his way up.

Friday night at Bellator 153, Page fights Jeremie Holloway, 31, an underdog coming off a loss to Matt Secor. Holloway was however undefeated in his previous seven fights, and Matt Secor is a badass – a loss to Secor doesn’t mean Holloway isn’t a badass too.

“I understand why people are impatient because they feel like they’ve seen me around for a long time already,” said Page to Michael Hutchinson for BE. “But at the same time they’ve also been watching me as a beginner, going into the intermediate level and now the more senior level.”

“If I didn’t pull off that kick, people wouldn’t have heard about me until 4 or 5 fights in. I wouldn’t be on the main stage until that time. It’s just straight off the bat I was put into the limelight.”

“If I had started MMA younger or maybe even had more amateur fights to begin with, then I probably would have just jumped right into the deep end. Because I went straight into pro, I still had a lot to learn.”

“I kind of asked to get another fight in before the summer started, so this one was more of a last minute thing. It’s just another fight.”

Page was expected to face MMA veteran Fernando Gonzalez in March at Bellator 151 but withdrew due to a prior commitment. He expects his next few fights to be against the same level of opponent as Gonzalez.

Bellator 153 is headlined by Ben Henderson vs. league champion Andrey Koreshkov. If Henderson wins, he will become the first man to win titles in the WEC, UFC, and Bellator, although oddly, there is little talk of the fight.