UNCASVILLE, Conn.--It wasn't much of a surprise that Michael Page (10-0) picked up his tenth career victory at Bellator 153 last Friday night (April 22, 2016). However, his method of victory was certainly a shocker to most (event recap here).
"Venom" locked up a variation of a toehold to force Jeremie Holloway to tap inside Mohegan Sun Arena in the first round of the main card's opening bout. The 29-year-old fighter spoke to MMAmania.com about the submission victory after the card's conclusion.
"It's a toe hold but it's inverted," said Page, who donned a Marvel Comics "Venom" tee shirt. "It was something that we drill all the time. I felt him really getting stressed about his foot and I was like 'I'm just going to hold onto this,' and he tapped quick."
With Page's propensity for aerial attacks, fast movement inside the cage and crisp accurate striking, no one could've foreseen a leg lock submission becoming his method of victory.
"He didn't," Page said smiling. "Especially having guys in my gym trying to tap my legs with leg locks, I have to understand the leg lock game and we have a lot of counters for it. To be fair I was trying to go for it… A lot of times people usually let go and I can take my leg out and carrying on fighting from there."
Holloway sprinted across the cage and immediately attacked Page as soon as the fight began, and boy did Page make him pay for it by connecting on a right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas.
"I knew he would come out and put pressure on me, but it wasn't technical pressure," Page explained. "He literally just ran at me and I was like, 'boy this is Christmas come early.' To be fair the shot that he took I thought it was game over straight away. When it landed and he kept going I was like, 'ok fair enough. I'll hit him with another one of those kind of shots and I'll put him down again. To be fair, he is tough. He is a tough guy, but I was ready for it."
Page was asked about his arsenal of leg kicks, which he never unleashed this time around. Was he worried about getting taken down? "No, no, I found his head so early with my hands and if it's not broke don't fix it," he said, "just keep going back to the same thing."
Next up for the undefeated London native is a homecoming at Bellator 158 on July 16, 2016 at the O2 Arena in his hometown. Page hasn't fought there since the early days of his career when he fought his first two professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts for the UCMMA promotion. He was announced for the card prior to Bellator 153, but now that he got the win and can focus on what's next, his excitement is palpable.
"We already planned out our schedule of what I'm going to be doing leading up to the fight and just promotional wise getting everyone there," he explained. "I'm trying to fill that place myself. It's going to be crazy. I'm so happy to be fighting there."
Page will face Fernando Gonzalez, a tough welterweight on a four-fight winning streak, who will be a much tougher test than any of his previous opponents in Bellator MMA.
"I feel like I have a little bit of something to prove because of what he said," said Page. "He feels like I'm dodging people and so on and so forth. I'm glad that it's him because after what he said he is going to feel what 'MVP' is about."
Bellator MMA president Scott Coker said Page is ready now for a jump up in competition:
"He's a kid that is extremely talented and I feel like he is ready to take that next step so we have him fighting Fernando at the O2 Arena in London on July 16 and it's going to be a home game for Michael," he told MMAmania.com. Michael always comes over here. He's flying over here and sleeping at the hotel. Now he's going to have a home game and Fernando has to go over there and fight him on his home turf. I think he is going to have his hands full. "That is going to be a tough fight," he said. "Fernando is going to be in his face and working him all night long. 'MVP' is a special athlete though. He is really exciting to watch and a lot of fun. Nothing surprises me from this guy. He is the Michael Jackson of MMA. Seriously. He can do it all and then he will start dancing on you after he beats you up."
Page was watching the title fight with vested interest at Bellator 153 and should he prevail over Gonzalez in July, he's got his sights set for a showdown with Andrey Koreshkov.
"100 percent. It's what people want to see and like I said, I feel like I'm improving a lot more and as you can see my all-around game is developing and I feel like I can handle any of these guys."