9 months ago
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MICHAEL ‘VENOM’ PAGE has no plans to change his pre and post-fight theatrics now that he’s in the UFC.
The long wait for the dynamic and slick Brit striker to debut in MMA‘s top promotion will finally come to an end next weekend.
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BELLATORPage, 36, will make his octagon debut on March 9 on a stacked UFC 299 card in Miami, where he’ll be welcomed to the big show by veteran Kevin Holland.
The Bellator era of Page’s career was filled with unique walkouts, props and viral celebrations, which are extremely few and far between in his new home.
But he won’t let the rigidness of the promotion – which in fairness seems to be slowly but surely eroding – take away from his showmanship.
“I prefer to ask for forgiveness than permission,” he told SunSport if he asked if he’d bring his Thanos gauntlet to his fights. “I can only be myself.
“I’m sure after I apologise a few times they’ll just be like, ‘Yeah, you can do it next time. It’s fine; we want to organise how we do it.
“But in all honestly, they seem very, kind of, open to allowing me to [be myself].
“Yes they are rigid, but they seem a little bit more open [with me].
“They kind of know what they’ve signed and are a little bit more open with allowing me to do certain things.
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BELLATOR“So, again, it’s down to me to be creative again and make it work. But I’m not gonna change.”
After years of wondering if he’d ever set foot inside the octagon, Page finds it somewhat weird to now be in mixed martial arts’ premier promotion.
Although he’s refusing to consider himself a fully-fledged UFC fighter until after the dust settles on his Miami melee with Holland.
He said: “It’s a little bit surreal. There are moments where I’m like, ‘I’m in the UFC.’
“And there are moments where I just kind of forget that I was there.
“And then something will happen and I’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m in the UFC.’
“I don’t think I sign off as a UFC athlete until I step into that cage and I’ve fought. And then I can really come out and say, ‘I’m here.'”
Many fans feared London Shootfighters standout Page would be thrown to a wrestling-heavy opponent whenever he made his octagon debut.
So they were thrilled to see the karate phenom matched up against fellow striker and the No.13-ranked fan favourite Holland.
Page said of the bout: “I’m happy not only because it’s a great fight, but because it means the UFC is taking me seriously as well.
“Obviously being signed means they have some form of respect for you, but you don’t know to what level.
UFC veteran Kevin Holland will welcome MVP to the octagonGETTY“When they gave me that opponent, it was like: ‘Oh, they really want me here, and they’re really gonna push that.’
The criticism often levelled at Page during his Bellator run was that he was levels above most of the competition he fought, with the term “can crusher” often used by his critics.
So it will give MVP immense pleasure to silence his critics with a trademark and emphatic victory over Holland.
He commented: “I’ve been doing it [fighting the best] behind closed doors.
“I’ve sparred with so many different people – names that I haven’t even mentioned before.
“I’ve sparred Leon Edwards, [UFC light-heavyweight] Johnny Walker, and I don’t believe any one of them would ever say anything negative about the spar.
“That just shows the level I’m at, but yeah, it’ll be nice to prove it, just because I’m a bit petty… I’m a lot petty.”
So what about his first post-fight celebration? Will the infamous PokeBall he threw at Cyborg Santos make an appearance in Miami or later on during his UFC run?
Page said: “We had a conversation about this not too long ago.
“And I was like, ‘There are certain celebrations that we might not ever see again.’ Obviously, you’ll see them online and stuff.
“So I may have to reintroduce and remind people. So I’m going to apologise to the UFC about throwing a Pokeball at somebody.
“At some point. Not necessarily this fight. But you may see a few reminders of who I am.”
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