{"id":63430,"date":"2025-08-12T20:55:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T20:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63430\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T20:55:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T20:55:07","slug":"joe-rogan-labels-ufc-319-star-the-biggest-puzzle-in-mma-ahead-of-mammoth-pay-per-view-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63430\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Rogan labels UFC 319 star the ‘biggest puzzle in MMA’ ahead of mammoth pay-per-view card"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan touted one UFC 319 undercard fighter as the toughest fighter to prepare for.<\/p>\n

UFC 319 is just days away as one of the biggest cards of 2025 features a pivotal headliner between middleweight titleholder Dricus du Plessis<\/a> and the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev<\/a>. In addition to Du Plessis vs. Chimaev, the card features plenty of intriguing matchups, including a welterweight clash between rising contenders Carlos Prates<\/a> and Geoff Neal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Several veteran stars are looking to make statements on the UFC 319 undercard before Du Plessis and Chimaev enter the Octagon<\/a>. The UFC\u2019s long-awaited return to Chicago is expected to deliver plenty of highlight-reel moments on fight night.<\/p>\n

But Joe Rogan<\/a> has his eyes on one specific undercard fighter with a ridiculous resume of violent knockouts.<\/p>\n

\"JoePhoto by Jeff Bottari\/Zuffa LLCJoe Rogan lauds UFC 319 undercard fighter as sport\u2019s \u2018biggest puzzle\u2019<\/p>\n

During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience<\/a>, Rogan showered Michael \u2018Venom\u2019 Page<\/a> with high praise ahead of UFC 319.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then you have Michael \u2018Venom\u2019 Page, who is the biggest puzzle in the entire sport,\u201d Rogan said of Page.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat guy, good luck training for that guy! Just good luck. Super tall welterweight who moves like nobody. World point-fighting champion, that is a totally different thing that point-fighting thing. Super creative, and he also knows how to wrestle now, knows Jiu-Jitsu now, so now he\u2019s a Mixed Martial Arts fighter and has this one skill set that is crazy unique.<\/p>\n

\u201cKevin Holland was like \u2018Where the f\u2014 is he? I can\u2019t find him!\u2019. It\u2019s the difference between someone who is standing in front of people and knocking sticks, and an elite fencer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Page began his UFC middleweight tenure by defeating Shara \u2018Bullet\u2019 Magomedov<\/a> at UFC Saudi Arabia earlier this year. Page\u2019s welterweight stint was cut short due to alleged \u2018politics\u2019 in the division<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before Page signed with the UFC in 2024, he was regarded as one of the greatest fighters in Bellator history. Page once crushed one of his opponent\u2019s skulls<\/a> with a vicious knockout that went viral on social media.<\/p>\n

Michael \u2018Venom\u2019 Page could enter middleweight title picture with a win at UFC 319<\/p>\n

Despite Page\u2019s frustration with the top welterweights, his decision to move to middleweight has paid big dividends. Page will face former UFC title challenger Jared Cannonier<\/a> at UFC 319 this Saturday in Chicago.<\/p>\n

A win over a proven middleweight like Cannonier would potentially set Page up for a title eliminator bout. It\u2019s an exciting time in the middleweight division ahead of UFC 319, especially after Anthony Hernandez\u2019s dominant performance at UFC Vegas 109<\/a> last weekend.<\/p>\n

Hernandez will be cageside for UFC 319 this weekend, as he plots a potential title shot against the Du Plessis vs. Chimaev winner. But a matchup with Page could make sense if the UFC matchmakers believe Hernandez still has work to do before earning a shot at the belt.<\/p>\n

Page will look to establish himself as a legitimate middleweight contender at UFC 319. Rogan will be keeping a keen eye on how his fight with Cannonier transpires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longtime UFC commentator Joe Rogan touted one UFC 319 undercard fighter as the toughest fighter to prepare for.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,2765,50787,785,85,787,37546],"class_list":{"0":"post-63430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-joe-rogan","12":"tag-michael-venom-page","13":"tag-mma","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-ufc","16":"tag-ufc-319"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}