MICHAEL ‘VENOM’ PAGE never in his wildest dreams thought about fighting for the middleweight title when he joined the UFC two years ago.
But despite entering the promotion as a welterweight, he finds himself potentially just TWO fights away from vying for the 185lbs belt.
GETTYMichael ‘Venom’ Page returns to the octagon at UFC 319[/caption]
GETTYFan favourite will make his second outing at middleweight[/caption]
GETTYPage will take on veteran 185-pounder Jared Cannonier on a stacked Chicago card[/caption]
GETTYA dominant win could put the Brit on the cusp of a shock crack at middleweight gold[/caption]
Page’s unexpected middleweight journey continues in the early hours of Sunday morning on a stacked UFC 319 in Chicago.
His second assignment in the weight class is wily veteran Jared Cannonier, who has ambitions of making one last run at the title.
And Page knows a spectacular showing against ‘The Killa Gorilla’ could very well put him within touching distance of an unexpected crack at middleweight gold.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, he said of potentially moving into title contention with a win over Cannonier: “100 per cent.
“And again, it’s like what I say: Just keep pushing forward, keep progressing forward, as long as the fight that you get represents progression.
“It does put me in a very, very good place. So this win 100 per cent [puts me in title contention].
“I’m not sure who the next person is gonna be, but it definitely puts me in a great location for the middleweight division.”
Page was all set on returning to welterweight after winning his middleweight bow against Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov in February.
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REUTERSMichael ‘Venom’ Page reckons a win over Jared Cannonier will catapult him middleweight top five[/caption]
REXThe London Shootfighters ace is eyeing his first stoppage win inside the octagon[/caption]
But he heard nothing but crickets from the slew of contenders jockeying for position in the stacked 170lbs division after dominating the previously undefeated Russian.
He said: “I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna get loads of requests now to push for another big fight.’ And it was just silent, man. It was silent.
“So you know, I was asking questions and then I was getting given names that, for me, I was like, ‘This doesn’t make any sense.’
“I was like, ‘I’ve just beaten someone that I’m sure had he beaten me, he would be talking title elimination next.’
“‘So then why am I getting a top No.20 rank and a No.22-ranked?’ And in my head, I was like, ‘This doesn’t make any sense.’
“After speaking to a lot of people and going back and forth and so on and so forth, I realised the welterweight division is very political.
“There’s a lot of experienced guys that are at the top and it’s a lot harder to push them to fight.
“Whereas in in the middleweight division, there are a lot of up-and-coming guys, and they just wanna take fights just to try and keep proving themselves and going forward.
“So I was just like, ‘Yeah, let me just go to ask for a middleweight fight.’ And I had a couple of names come through.
“It landed on Cannonier, where it had [been] somebody else and I said yes to. Then that, I don’t know, how it fell out, but it fell out.
“And then Canonnier came and confirmed and I was like, ‘Yes.’ To be fair, it was definitely a more exciting fight.”
The middleweight title will be on the line just a few hours after Page locks horns with Cannonier.
It definitely puts me in a great location for the middleweight division
Michael ‘Venom’ Page on a win over Jared Cannonier
UFCThe middleweight title will be on the line in UFC 319’s main event[/caption]
GETTYMVP plans to make championship weight in case his services are called on[/caption]
And he’ll will be making championship weight just in case something goes awry ahead of the eagerly anticipated showdown between champion Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev and back-up fighter Caio Borralho is unable to fight.
He said: ” 100 per cent I’m making championship weight. Like, why, why would I not?”
He added: “I’m gonna make that weight and if something was to go wrong and they asked to put me in, please understand that I’m putting my hand up.
“And I’m jumping straight into that fight, like, face first into that fight.
Page faces a Cannonier looking to prove he’s still capable of making a run to the title at the ripe old age of 41.
And at this juncture of his career, Page doesn’t foresee the American deviating from what got him to the dance.
“If he’s smart enough, he’s gonna just want power forward,” Page said.” And like you say, get into cliches, get a hold of me, try and take me down to the floor, rough me up and utilise his size, utilise his strength.
“And this is what we’ve been working for. I don’t see him being able to do anything else. If he does anything else, it, it just makes the, the fight a lot easier for me.
“If you try to stand, I know he’s got heavy hands, but if you’re gonna try to out strike me, it’s gonna be a problem for you.
“So again we’ve made the adjustments, we understand what he’s gonna come in with.”
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