Michael Page will have his hands full with what should be one of the most exciting fights of his career at UFC Saudi Arabia this Saturday.
After 21 consecutive MMA fights at welterweight, “MVP” returns to the middleweight division for an important clash against the unbeaten Shara Magomedov, who’s 15-0 with four straight wins in the UFC.
It’s a fight Page requested, and one he fully expected to get once the UFC had a chance to consider his suggestion.
“It’s the ‘MVP’ effect,” Page said Wednesday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I think if I put certain things over there, I think everyone just became excited with just the potential of that fight. I feel like I’ve got that style where the UFC will look at me and allow me to match up with any other good fighter anywhere, so it wasn’t surprising at all.”
Page, 37, has always been one of the longer and rangier fighters at welterweight, effectively using distance as a weapon with his karate-based striking. Making the cut to 170 pounds has never been too much of an issue, Page said, but the Magomedov matchup was mostly about landing a fun striking challenge.
Ultimately, a title at welterweight remains the primary target for Page. Since the Brit arrived in Bellator in 2014, he’s pursued gold in the division, coming close twice.
“I’ll definitely return to ’85 at some point, but the goal is always going to be 170,” Page said. “I want the belt at 170. I think it’s a great time in that division to really pursue and make big steps towards the belt. But as you say, every now and again, if there’s a great fight to be had, I may take some more pit stops.
“Unless it’s a really exciting fight, the next up is definitely 170.”
When he’s been dealt matchups with fellow striking specialists in the past, “MVP” has famously flourished and delivered some of the most exciting highlights in MMA history. Opponents have typically had to use a more grappling-heavy approach to beat him, though even that has left him with only three defeats in his 26-fight career.
Against a fellow flashy striker like Magomedov, Page doesn’t expect to do much wrestling — at least as part of the initial game plan.
“It’s exciting, it’s explosive, it’s dangerous, but there are patterns that I see,” Page said of Magomedov. “There are patterns that I’m going to look to exploit. My game tends to frustrate. So I’m going to try to incorporate the game plans that we’ve made specifically for him, and then go and go and do what MVP does best.
“I think he’s going to be [too] stubborn to shoot [takedowns], because if he shoots, he’s never going to hear the end of it. For the rest of his career, that one time ‘MVP’ made you shoot. So he’s going to be very stubborn, but again, it’s different when you’re taking damage and you feel like you need to just be safe, so it may happen.
“This is what made it so much more exciting to want to call out and want to want to make happen,” Page concluded. “So I’m just looking forward to this fight because I always put myself up there with any top striker.”
