When Michael “Venom” Page signed with the UFC from Bellator, he was not only excited about the chance to prove himself against the best fighters in the sport, but he also anticipated keeping a busier schedule because his new promotional home rarely goes a weekend without putting on a card.
But since signing with the UFC at the end of 2023, he’s only fought twice each year, and he actually ended up moving to middleweight just for the chance to stay busy with no viable matchups available to him at welterweight. Following his win over one-time title challenger Jared Cannonier this past August, Page immediately started asking for another fight before 2025 came to a close, but instead, he’s sat out for the past seven months with his return now booked at UFC London on Saturday.
“To be fair, the goal was to get another one in like November/December because I knew they were going to make me wait [for London],” Page told MMA Fighting. “I knew if it got to the other side of the New Year, then they would definitely make me wait until the March card. I wanted to get one in sooner, but it doesn’t seem that they had the opponents, or whatever’s going on.
“But I wasn’t able [to fight] until now. It’s a shame, because I definitely wanted to get another one in, but we’re here. I’m excited to get back in.”
To his credit, Page saw an ideal opening to ask for a fight against fellow striker Shara “Bullet” Magomedov after he dropped a decision to Ian Machado Garry and the UFC loved the idea. He moved to middleweight, took out Shara Bullet in impressive fashion and then he was just in a good place to stay at 185 pounds.
But his detour to middleweight was never in his long term plans because behind the scenes, Page was constantly seeking a top opponent at 170 pounds.
“I always wanted to be back at welterweight,” Page said. “Even the Shara [Bullet] fight was a bit opportunistic, I made a little callout, and the UFC liked it and we made it happen. I was searching for fights at welterweight, wasn’t able to get any fights. I suggested if I just fight at middleweight again while welterweight is doing whatever welterweight is doing. They found a competent name and landed on Jared Cannonier, which is an amazing fight.
“I got that fight, but then straight afterwards I was like guys, I still want to go back to welterweight. Can we get any fights? It’s been since August. I’ve been asking for fights since August. It didn’t quite come until now.”
When the call finally came for the UFC London card, Page got the name Sam Patterson as an opponent.
Page, who actually started his own promotion called Total Kombat in his spare time, has never been in the business of turning down fights so he accepted immediately even if the matchup didn’t make much sense to him.
While Patterson sports a 4-1 record in the UFC, he’s not ranked in the top 15, and to make matters worse, Page has actually spent quite a bit of time working with him in the past. He was able to set aside their friendship for the fight, but Page just didn’t understand why that was the only choice presented to him after such a long layoff.
“I’ve been fishing but not too many people biting,” Page said. “I’ve asked for many, many different competitors, and we haven’t had anybody take the fight. For whatever reason, it’s not always the same thing, I’m not going to belittle anybody and be like they’re scared. That’s too easy to do. But they’re definitely more cautious of fighting a star like mine and would prefer to fight people with a more generic style of MMA. That side of it has been frustrating, which is why I feel like I’m not getting as many fights or getting to fight as regularly.
“Big up to Sam Patterson for stepping up. You’ve got to respect somebody who is game. He’s a talented athlete, but I respect someone who is willing to step up to the occasion. Because not many guys are stepping up.”
When UFC London was initially announced, many of the fighters occupying spots in the rankings at welterweight weren’t already booked. Several marquee fights have been announced since then including Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley, Jack Della Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad vs. Gabriel Bonfim.
But none of them were booked when Page was seeking an opponent for the UFC London card, which is why he was a little dumbfounded at the matchup he was offered.
“That is what has been the most frustrating,” Page said. “That just means I’m being turned down. Because I’m taking a look and I’m asking well this guy, I haven’t heard anything about this guy, what’s going on here. [They’re telling me] ‘yeah, he doesn’t want to do it, oh there’s something wrong, there’s an injury.’ I’m sure there are legit fighters. Joaquin Buckley is game. I don’t want to believe he would say no or say he wouldn’t want to take the fight. But it’s confusing because [he wasn’t] booked, and I’m game to fight anybody.
“It’s not about me building my name. I feel like I’ve created a name with this world, and I’m respected in this world. I just want exciting fights. It is weird. I don’t understand what’s going on. It’s difficult to figure out. All I can do is just fight whoever comes in front of me.”
Add to that, Page really just wants to stay busier, especially knowing that time is eventually going to run out on his fight career.
He’s still quite spry at 38 years old, but Page knows he can’t fight forever so he’s trying to make the most of his career and being active is a huge part of that equation.
“It was down to us, we’d be fighting way more regularly,” Page said. “It’s very different but if you think about the sport that I came from in freestyle kickboxing, it was near enough every weekend you’d be competing. So I’m used to being aggressively fighting. That’s been many years now, I’ve kind of become accustomed to MMA.
“But when I got to the UFC, I was expecting it to be regular fights as long as I’m fit to go. I’ve been fit to go and it hasn’t been regular fights. So yes definitely frustrating. I guess it’s part of the game. I’m hoping this next fight, I get to go straight back in again as long as I’m fit and ready.”
As much as he wanted to fight sooner with hopes for a ranked opponent, Page is really just ready to get back to work and that’s going to remain his only focus until after he competes on Saturday.
“There’s no point talking about it,” Page said. “I’ve got an opponent now. Let’s focus on putting on an amazing show for the UK fans. A great big highlight reel and then move forward and start searching for these guys again.”
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