Michael “Venom” Page returns to action at UFC 319 on August 16th against Jared Cannonier. It’s another middleweight fight — MVP’s second in a row after his first two UFC bouts at welterweight. And according to the British kickboxer, that’s because getting fights at 170 was too much of a pain in the neck.
Page discussed the issue in a new interview with Fred Talks Fighting.
“I actually wanted to go back down,” he said. “I just find a lot of the guys at welterweight, it seems to be very political. Nobody wants to fight. Everyone wants to fight specific people, and it’s a bit of a battle. I’m not in that stage of my career, I just wanna fight everybody and anybody, and not everybody is in the same place.”
“Whereas at middleweight, people are a lot more keen, a lot more willing to [fight], especially because I’m coming up. They already know that they have a slight advantage there. But I’m just ready to go against anyone.”
“Again, I find it a bit more political,” he continued. “I assumed after that big fight, that big win, my last fight, I was gonna get a lot of fights and people active, ready to go and go again, but it was very quiet. And I was calling out people, and it’s still very quiet. So, like I said, very political down there. So I’m like, you know what? Middleweight is a comfortable weight for me in terms of not having to cut so much, so it’s easier. So, yeah, why not?
“I get a big win here against Jared and I get a top five opponent next, I’m right in the running for a title shot,” he said. “Next year, I wanna fight in the UK before I call it quits because that’s what the fans are asking for. So I’d love to fight on home ground in the UFC.”
“So next year, maybe I get a big UK fight, and then I’m looking for a title fight.”