Michael
Page believes the
Ultimate Fighting Championship could have parted ways with him
in a more respectful manner.
Page (26-3) exhausted his UFC contract with a lackluster unanimous
decision win over Nursulton
Ruziboev at
UFC Paris. “Venom” was denied a post-fight interview,
subsequently dropped from the official UFC rankings and UFC CEO
Dana
White confirmed that his contract wouldn’t be renewed.
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Michael Page questions UFC treatment after four straight wins
and contract exit
Page went 5-1 in the UFC and was riding a four-fight win streak
upon exhausting his contract. As such, he believes he deserved
contract negotiations at the very least, rather than a straight
departure from the promotion.
“I had goals to achieve and regardless of anything, I was winning
my fights, which says to me you get to stay,” Page told Ariel
Helwani. “That’s the premise of this game, is success should breed
more opportunities. So, I still felt like we’ll sit down at the
table… I felt what may happen is they just say, ‘Look, we can
re-sign you, but it’s going to be a lot less,’ and we work from
there. But I wouldn’t have expected it to be dealt with in the way
that it was dealt with. I found that quite disrespectful, to be
fair.”
Page was known for his highlight-reel knockouts in Bellator
MMA. He parted ways with Bellator in 2023 when it was taken
over by the
Professional Fighters League and signed with the UFC. Page’s
flashy style didn’t translate into his UFC career as he faced
severe backlash for point-fighting from a distance and failing to
record a single finish inside the Octagon.
Notably, Page wasn’t allowed a post-fight Octagon interview after
his win over Ruziboev, marking the second time this has happened.
He says the UFC could’ve let him speak to the Paris crowd when they
already knew he was going to be released.
“You’ve seen fights that have been absolutely terrible and they
still get to go on the mic and say their piece,” Page added. “So,
this is the second time it’s happened to me. I feel like,
especially if you knew you weren’t going to re-sign me, what was
the harm in even allowing me to speak to my fans, speak to the
Paris crowd who are amazing? I don’t understand who makes those
calls, to know who I’d even go to, to be like, ‘What’s that
about?’”