Michael “Venom” Page promised fireworks after a couple of lackluster outings but instead he cruised to victory producing nothing but duds with another lackluster performance at UFC Paris on Saturday.
Over three rounds, Page landed the better strikes but he didn’t do much damage and when he did manage to hurt Ruziboev, he failed to follow up with any kind of killer instinct seeking the finish. When it was over, the judges all agreed on 29-28 scores with Page getting the unanimous decision victory while fighting on the final bout of his current UFC contract.
An inside kick from Page opened the fight with Ruziboev quickly snatching a takedown to bring the fight into his world on the ground. Ruziboev was methodical on the ground as he maintained control before exploding forward with a big elbow or punch to ensure Page wasn’t going to escape.
Page eventually worked his way back to the feet with Ruziboev still holding onto the body lock while eating some shoulder strikes. When they finally separated, Page was posturing trying to set up his strikes but the first round came to a close.
In the second, Page clipped Ruziboev with a nasty kick directly to the knee as the Uzbekistan native stumbled immediately and showed the ill effects from that strike. Unfortuntely, Page wasn’t able to capitalize on that damaging kick as he went back to his standard approach, just waiting for Ruziboev to attack so he could counter.
With five minutes remaining, Page caught Ruziboev off guard with a slick punch to open the round but he wasn’t able to do much else. That led to Ruziboev grabbing a leg and eventually scoring a takedown against the cage.
Page did manage to crack Ruziboev late with a couple of stiff punches but there was just no folllowup in an attempt to potentially get a finish.
Page has now won four fights in a row in the UFC but it’s tough to say if the promotion is going to go out of its way to re-sign him to a new deal, especially after another forgettable performance like the one he had on Saturday.
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