9 months ago
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MICHAEL ‘VENOM’ PAGE made a UFC debut to remember with a dominant display against Kevin Holland – after channelling his inner Undertaker.
The former long-time Bellator star, 36, made his eagerly-anticipated octagon debut on Saturday night on a stacked UFC 299 card in Miami.
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GETTYFor years, MMA fans around the world have wondered if the dynamic karate ace would be able to compete with the best of the UFC’s welterweight division.
And they well and truly got their answer as he produced a textbook performance against fan favourite Holland – who he defeated via unanimous decision – to announce himself to casual fans across the globe.
Page – who paid homage to WWE icon The Undertaker in his octagon walk – looked to keep his distance early doors and utilised his trademark snake-like movement as he looked to get reads on the American.
Holland struggled to deal with the karate range implemented by Page and lunged with his strikes before securing a clinch against the fence.
Page managed to break free after some serious pummelling and went back to his in-and-out style, which resulted in him landing a beautiful leaping elbow.
He stung Holland a few seconds later with a leaping overhand right which drew a big reaction from the crowd.
Holland managed to initiate another clinch against the fence with a minute of the round left but Page managed to break free and landed another big right hand a few moments later.
And with seconds of the stanza remaining, he rattled the dome of Holland with a beautiful spinning back elbow.
GettyPage opened up eound two with a big spinning wheel kick but Holland was wise to it.
The American landed his biggest shot of the fight – a solid right hand – seconds later before briefly initiating another clinch.
Two chopping rights landed for Page after another beautiful entry, but he soon found himself on his back after a slip allowed Holland to secure double underhooks.
Holland unleashed a flurry of elbows after attempting a choke but Page defended them well before getting into half-guard.
He used that guard to make his way back to his feet and proceeded to land another right hand that opened a cut on Holland.
Two more leaping rights appeared to hurt Holland, who was well and truly bamboozled by the Brit’s elusiveness.
Page asserted his dominance immediately after the final restart of the fight with a beautiful one-two combo but he let ‘Trailblazer’ back to his feet.
Holland soon managed to get a hold of the London Shootfighters ace and briefly dragged him to the canvas, where he eventually found himself a few moments later after a beautiful sweep.
Another nasty elbow landed for MVP moments later and opened a cut on the frustrated Holland, who failed to find a Hail Mary shot needed to get his hand raised in the final minutes of the fight.
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