After spending a decade in Bellator, Michael “Venom” Page’s jump to the UFC came with plenty of question marks. His win wasn’t spectacular, but his debut at UFC 299 against Kevin Holland served its purpose in moving him up the rankings.
For others, a win in their UFC debut may mean a great deal. For MVP, it was the first step in his journey toward UFC glory.
“This is something that I’ve envisioned. I saw how it would go. Not getting the knockout is the only thing that I think didn’t go the way I wanted it to go. But everything else was according to plan,” MVP tells Uproxx Sports. “So I think it just means more for everybody else, ’cause there’s always been that question mark on my standard and can I hang in the UFC at the top level? So yeah, I’m just living my normal MVP life.”
Despite the fight going a full three rounds to decision, MVP is ready to get back out there as quickly as possibly. He doesn’t have a target opponent, but says he wants to keep moving up the rankings. Ideally, that starts with an appearance on the England show coming up in July. And if everything goes to plan, he’d also like to be on the September card in Vegas.
“The goal is a couple of big wins and then go for that shiny gold belt at the top,” MVP continues. “A step up is a step up. So whoever’s ranked higher than me, I go for those people, those names, tick them off and then do the same thing again until the UFC are like, no, it’s time for this guy to get up.”
While MVP’s performance may not have wowed in terms of getting a finish, his entrance stole headlines when he took a page out of WWE legend The Undertaker’s book. He hasn’t been as much into WWE in its current state, but admits he was a big fan of the Attitude Era, with many of the legends of the pro wrestling world inspiring him to this day.
“As much as I was known, I’m a bit unknown with regards to the question mark of, can he do this at the UFC level? Kevin Holland stepped up to approach somebody that is that unknown. So I wanted to come in with that kind of scary approach,” MVP says. “And that’s why I wanted to pick Undertaker. It worked out. I think people enjoyed it. They would definitely have enjoyed it even more so if I was able to execute the full walkout.”
The full walkout he pitched included the lights going dark, his brother functioning as a body double of MVP in the Octagon, the lights going dark, and him appearing in the tunnel. Usually as he gets closer to fight night, he’ll get inspiration, often working with his family about what he can do next. While much of his pitched entrance was shot down, he was still able to achieve his goal of wowing the audience and putting on an entertaining evening.
“Obviously (the UFC is) not used to doing things like that, a little bit of a pushback. But I think now that they’ve seen me, seen what it’s done, they may allow me to be a little bit more expressive,” MVP says.
“They understand that I’ve got a really creative mind and I really envision the whole picture versus just the fight. I think when the UFC wanted to acquire me, they would have known that it would have come with me wanting to do those type of things and me wanting to be a bit grateful in those moments as well. So I think eventually they’ll give me a little bit more freedom.”
Source: https://uproxx.com/sports/michael-venom-page-ufc-299-interview/
