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In an exclusive interview with Poker Scout, UFC star Michael ‘Venom’ Page looked ahead to his upcoming fight with Sharaputdin Magomedov. He also previewed other action on the horizon, as well as slamming KSI over his comments towards Wayne Bridge.
On Magomedov Fight
Q: You’re up against one of the most highly touted fighters on the entire UFC roster in Sharaputdin Magomedov.. What’s the mentality going into this fight?
Michael ‘Venom’ Page:“It’s pure excitement, man. It really is pure excitement because, as you say, he’s so talented. As one of the best strikers in the world, when I see another person that’s got nice, tasty striking as well, I want to challenge myself against that and kind of see how my style fits and matches up against it. So it’s just pure excitement.”
Q: Do you think it’ll be an entertaining fight with your strengths like that going head to head?
MVP:“You know what? I certainly hope so. I always try to make my fights as entertaining as possible, as well as obviously winning them. But my style is always entertaining, but it can also force people into doing things that they may not want to do just to survive, almost, and try to guarantee the win, which is like wrestling, clinching and holding me in places vs actually trying to win a fight as he’d like to finish me. So I doubt he’s going to be like that because he’s an undefeated fighter. I think he’s going to have a lot of confidence in his ability . Even when it’s going wrong, I think he’s still going to believe that he can dig his way out. So it should make for an entertaining fight. “
Q: Do you consider yourself the underdog because he is undefeated?
MVP: “No, not at all. I think coming into the UFC, there’s a lot of question marks still. People still underestimated my abilities. But now that I’ve got there, I’ve gone there now, and I obviously had a couple of fights, but in those couple of fights, people have seen my ability now. I had a great fight against Kevin Holland. Not as impressive against Ian (Garry), but it forced him again into a different game when everyone knows and can see how talented he is in his striking. He didn’t even want to do that against me. So it did kind of still raise my stock with regards to my striking ability. I don’t see myself as the underdog in this one at all. “
Q: Do you change up your preparation or your strategy coming off that Ian Garry bout?
MVP: “Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot more jujitsu, a lot more wrestling, grappling, having fun with it, really enjoying it and feeling a lot more relaxed in certain scenarios and positions. Obviously still a long way to go to keep improving and getting better. But I definitely feel better in that area. And I feel like it’s only gonna kind of help me with my striking because there’s certain things that I may hesitate to do because I’m worried about getting taken down. But if I’m more competent in those areas, I can be all guns blazing when it comes to the striking, so I can throw a lot more crazy punches and kicks and, which would definitely make for more entertainment. “
Future Plans For MVP
Q: If you win on Feb 1st, is there anyone you have in mind to face next?
MVP:“To be fair, no, not anybody specific. But obviously I had that loss and I kind of just want to bounce back. I thought this was just a great fight just for everybody, fans, UFC, it was a great fight. So get the win, go back to welterweight. I feel like welterweight at the moment, there’s so many talented people, but it’s a lot of moving parts. Nobody has secured themselves at the top right now. Which means there’s, there’s a chance for me to push for that belt. So that’s what I want to go and do. “
Q: Do you feel like you’re at your peak yet? And if not do you feel like you’re close to being the peak of what you want to be?
MVP:“Still a little bit more work, but definitely close. And that little variation of change in my training has definitely helped. A couple of things I still want to work on, but that’s obviously between me and my coaches. But yeah, it’s getting there. It’s definitely getting there. And again, as I look around It’s actually making me happy. I’m looking at some of the fights that have been happening in the welterweight division and it excites me. It doesn’t worry me. It excites me. So that’s a good thing. “
Q: So I assume that’s kind of your big goal is to eventually hold that title?
MVP:“100%. I want to get my hands on that title. And then from there, I’d probably move up. If I had my shot at a title already, then had this middleweight fight, I potentially would have stayed there because it’s definitely a lot easier. It’s definitely a lot easier in terms of weight and not having to worry about that weight cut and stuff or be as stressed about a weight cut definitely helps. Especially over the Christmas period,it made it a lot more enjoyable. But because I haven’t achieved that yet, that is my goal. Until I’ve done that, or I can say to myself that maybe it’s not going to happen, then I’m going to move up. “
Q: Do you wish you joined UFC earlier in your career?
MVP:“Nah, I feel like everything happens for a reason. Would it have been nice to get there and challenge myself a bit earlier or maybe have some fights earlier? Yeah, maybe. But honestly, like I said, I feel like everything really and truly happens for a reason. Even though I’m one of the senior fighters, I don’t feel like I’m in a rush to do anything. I do want to have exciting fights. I do want to fight regularly, but that’s just because I’m excited about fighting. It has nothing to do with me feeling like I’m on my way out because my body feels amazing. I still keep up with all the youngsters in the gym. Like if you didn’t know me and you came and watched me train, you’d think I was as young as everybody else. So that’s a good thing is when my body starts to falter in the gym, in the preparation, then I need to consider hanging the gloves up. But for right now, seriously, I don’t feel in a rush at all. “
Q: As you got older, were you worried that you might not feel the same when reaching your mid-thirties? How refreshing is it to still feel like you can do it at your age?
MVP:“I find a lot of people speak about the mid-thirties and I’m talking even before. So when I was in my late-twenties, people say when you get to 30, things slow down and then, mid- thirties and blah, blah, blah. And then my elders in the gym were saying that your body takes longer to recover. And I think it was just a lack of information. I think that side of things has gotten a lot better as well in terms of recovery. Because we beast ourselves so much in terms of learning.Now today’s the day that we need to kind of ease off the body. You need to take these vitamins and these nutrients, these minerals, like we weren’t talking about those things before. Now we’re talking about it. And now you see people at that age feeling amazing and still look at look at Merab (Dvalishvili) the other day! Unbelievable and again, he was saying that he’s been criticized about his age and look what he did. He looked like the younger fighter in terms of how aggressive and how fit he was. He looked like the younger fighter. So I think there’s so much more science to being able to keep your body younger, regardless of your age, that is massively helping. Times are moving on. So you are going to see people being able to perform a lot later in their age. “
Adesanya vs Imamov Prediction
Q: How do you see the Adesanya v Imavov fight panning out in the main event?
MVP:“I’d bet my house on Adesanya coming back, man. I know he’s had a few ups and downs, but he’s just got that mentality, that grind, that push, he wants to get back there. A lot of people, you see it in a lot of people, they lose the title and they almost lose their buzz and lose their motivation. For him, it seems different. He’s got that motivation, excitement. I’ve spoken to the team and he’s changed a few things around and he’s doing a few more things again. That shows excitement that shows motivation still like he’s trying to still make things work and change things and adjust things. So I’m actually looking forward to seeing what you know, Adesanya turns up either way, he’s gonna win. “
On Boxing Career and General UFC
Q: Do you have an itch to get back in the boxing ring at all? Or is it mostly just UFC focus? And how do you feel about that?
MVP:“100%. I just love combat. Full stop. As much as everybody that knows me, my family, friends would hate me saying this. I would even do a bare knuckle fight again. But the focus needs to be a bit more tunnel vision right now and focus on that belt. No more distractions, no more anything else. But yes, as a question, I would 100% do a boxing fight, do a bare knuckle fight, do whatever, because I’m just excited for combat. I love the game of it. But in terms of what I’m doing right now, I need to be very focused on what I’m going to do.”
Q: Are there any locations or venues that you still dream of fighting in? Especially UK or US based?
MVP:“Yeah. I still haven’t fought in New York. I want to fight in New York. I would like to go back to Vegas only because they’re doing this Sphere now. And I can already envision like the walkout because they’ve got the screen that goes like 360 around you. I feel like that would just be an amazing experience. I’d love for UFC to go to Japan. Because I’ve fought over there. It’s just a beautiful place and that country truly loves combat. I’m talking the second we walked into the arena, there’s not one empty seat even for the first fight. And you just don’t get that in America, they slowly drip feed people in. And then when the main card starts or the main event starts everyone’s in. But there (Japan), they want to watch from the first fight, right. All the way through. So yeah if they end up going over there, I’d love to fight there as well.
“I’d go over to Australia as well. I haven’t been on that side of the world. So I’d like to go on that side and fight over there. I just like new experiences. Anywhere that’s new experiences for me, then yeah, I’ll put my hand up and go.”
Q: Would you have a preference at this point in your career about going for the more bigger prestigious fights or kind of climbing and trying to win that belt? What speaks to you more?
MVP:“It depends, I feel like as a combat artist, the fight will always excite me slightly more. So for example, me taking this fight (against Magomedov) doesn’t really do me any justice in my progression in the Welterweight division, but what a great fight. Do you know what I mean? So if I have moments like that, I reckon I’d go for the fight, but like I said, as soon as I’ve done that, I’m coming back to tunnel vision, focusing on the specific division that I’m in and then kind of progressing there, but yeah, I feel like if there’s a big fight out there to be made, a 100%, I’ll take a slight detour and take that fight.”
On KSI and Wayne Bridge
Q: Is there a fight for KSI that makes sense now, with the Wayne Bridge bout not happening anymore?
MVP:“To be fair, I’m not sure. Like I said, I like to go to some of the events. It’s enjoyable. The crowd are crazy. But I don’t really pay attention a lot. I guess obviously the fight that everybody wants to see is going to be against Jake Paul. Because I feel that again, I understand it’s a bit gimmicky. But some of the fights seem like it’s not, not worth kind of tuning into. So, yeah, I guess there’s guys within that realm that maybe that had already created names that they should, they should match up against, but yeah it’s not my place to kind of pick and choose, because I don’t know enough about that world. I guess any celebrity could be a target right now, because that’s the world that they’re in. But yeah, in terms of where does he go from there? I’m not sure. I guess all arrows point to him and Jake Paul having an epic fight now that they’ve done quite a few fights amongst themselves. So I think it would be a great finisher to have that fight. “
General UFC
Q: Do you see Islam Makhachev as the P4P #1 right now, or do you think it is Alex Pereira or Jon Jones?
MVP:“Yeah it’s different. He’s unbelievable. Obviously, the last fight wasn’t the fight that we wanted to see with Renato (Moicano). But is he an incredible mixed martial artist? 100%. Is he a force to be reckoned with? 100% Pound for pound? I don’t know yet. It’s hard to relate pound for pound because when you say pound for pound, you’re talking about the Demetrius Johnson’s, you’re talking about Jon Jones and those guys are epic. Those guys have beaten some big names and had some unbelievable fights. So to then try and relate to them, too early is difficult. Alex Pereira, he reminds me of Erling Haaland, like he’s just gone into football and he’s just killing everything at the moment. But do you immediately peg them as the greatest of all time? Now it’s still a little bit early. Is he unbelievable? Yes. Is he super talented? Yeah, 100%. I can see the greatest of all time for him. And I’m a massive fan. But it’s still early for those guys. So we’ll see.”
Q: Looking at the welterweight division, Belal Muhammad is still champion and looks to be defending his belt against Shavkat Rakhmonov next. How do you see that fight playing out?
MVP:“Even before the fight was announced, I was asked about it. And I’ve always said Belal. Definitely made me stick with that decision after watching Shavkat in his last fight. It wasn’t the greatest of performances. There was talks of him having an injury in his camp as well. So that might be the reason why. But I just think stylistically. Belal, similar to what he did to Leon, he can press forward, his striking is getting better and better and because he’s okay with the grappling in the end, he’ll stay in the pocket. Shavkat likes to press forward as well, but I feel like he doesn’t have a takedown, he’s obviously got chokes and stuff, but doesn’t quite have a takedown that is going to do anything to Belal, so in that fight, I feel like it’s Belal that’s going to be the one pressing forward and pressing the fight. He just has to be careful if he does go for a takedown, he has to be careful of someone that has grips like that. You can kind of tell he’s got strong grips, that his head is not in the wrong place when he does it. He doesn’t get a choke attempt and then swept or a choke attempt and then submitted. But I still feel like Belal will take that one.”
Q: If Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones fight, what is your thoughts on that?
MVP:“I feel slightly differently than most. I feel we have a habit of seeing greatness arrive in whatever sport. And then we’re all waiting for that person, that greatness to fall. And my thing is let the greatness be great and then let the new generation produce new greats.
“I feel like Jon Jones is the greatest of all time in our sport and I feel like Tom Aspinall can achieve similar things. I also feel like we don’t they don’t need to cross paths. I don’t want to see either of them ruin each other’s kind of journey. I would love maybe Jon Jones to have one more exciting fight and retire. And then Tom Aspinall can just go on a killing spree and again be known as another great. 100% I get why there’s excitement there, butI just don’t want either person to have anything to tarnish that reputation that they’ve, they’ve built. That’s me personally. “
Q: Do you think from their perspectives, they want to prove they can beat one another?
MVP:“That’s the fighter in us all, we’d always want to prove ourselves. And if they both honestly feel that way, then 100% let’s make the fight happen. And all of us get to enjoy whatever happens at the end. But again, I’m just talking from my perspective. I just feel like it’d be good to just leave Jon Jones to what he’s done. I still class him as an undefeated fighter. The names that he’s gone through in the journey that he’s had is unrivaled. There’s nobody else that can tell me that they’ve got a list of people that they’ve destroyed and that can match him. So if both fighters want to do it, let it be done. I feel like the Stipe (Miocic) shouldn’t have had the fight. If there was a fight, it should have gone to Tom Aspinall. Or if Jon Jones didn’t want to have that fight, he should have left the title, relinquished the title and then taken another like exciting fight, but don’t block somebody else’s journey. Allow them to continue trying to be great. So I understand why Tom Aspinall was eager to try and get that fight. It might not even be just because it’s John Jones. It’s also because you’re holding the belt. You can’t hold up the belt and then pick and choose somebody else that hasn’t really been performing.I think that was wrong for the UFC to allow. But moving forward, I feel like if Jon Jones doesn’t want to defend it anymore. Put it to one side, allow Tom Aspinall to kind of go and take that trying to achieve that and then keep that and maintain that and then you go and take some exciting fights elsewhere. “
Q: How do you see Leon’s fight with Jack Maddalena panning out?
MVP:“It’s very difficult. And the reason I say it’s very difficult is because Jack is so good at scrambles. So when it comes to the grappling and stuff, very good at scrambles. Leon’s actually a lot stronger than people might think in his grappling game, but his grappling is very different. His grappling is very static. Like he’ll hold you in certain places. And when you try to make space or try to get up, he’ll slowly progress from there. So my thing is who’s going to be better in that position when the scrambles are going on. And striking wise, Jack is so smart and very disciplined in how he lands his punches and throws his punches, throws his kicks.
“But then Leon is also very patient. So I think it will be a very slow paced fight and it’s only going to be when there’s a grappling exchange where you see things speed up a little bit. So I think it’s going to go down to a few things, fitness, who’s ‘IT factor’ it is on that day. So it’s hard for me because it’s a very difficult one to be very sure of. I’d say you have to edge it. I think Leon’s going to be that little bit stronger. So I might edge it to him purely based on his strength of striking. I think he’s a slightly taller guy as well. He obviously didn’t look good in his last fight, but I honestly do believe fighting at 6:00 AM for a UK guy would’ve played a factor in anybody’s fight. So I’m gonna edge it slightly to Leon, but what a great fight.”
Q: Paddy Pimblett is rumoured to be fighting Michael Chandler next in the lightweight division? Is that a winnable fight for him? How would you see it playing out?
MVP:“If that is a real fight and it comes to fruition, it’s a big jump, a very big jump up. The only thing is for me, Michael Chandler is one of the most talented in terms of skill for skill across the board. I just feel strategy, he plays too much into making everybody enjoy the fight and impressing people versus just winning the fight. I feel like if he was a bit more tactical. He would win way more of the fights that he’s been in because for me, he tends to be the better skillswise, in terms of everywhere, like his grappling is better. His wrestling is better. His striking is better. But he just does some crazy stuff, entertaining as it is. I feel like he could have won the title already. And almost nearly did. So it’s a very big jump for Paddy, but it is a winnable fight if Chandler is reckless. If Chandler continues trying to be entertaining and be reckless, it is a winnable fight, but I think he’s going to be way more powerful. The takedown is going to be very easy. Paddy’s going to struggle to submit somebody like him. He’s not easy to submit at all. I just feel like all arrows point to Chandler winning that fight. But again, if he’s reckless, Paddy can definitely take the fight off him. “
Q: Can Chandler reign that in? Or is that just his personality?
MVP:“I feel like maybe he’s just playing into it. Maybe he needs somebody to tell him that he can actually win that title, instead of r just being exciting all the time. He’s super talented and can actually win fights. Get a strategy in. Get focused on paying attention to the opponent in front of you. And not just showing everybody all your skills. Everybody knows you’re a skillful fighter. They can see it. Every fight you’ve had, you can show your skill. Your whole career, you’ve shown your skills. Now let’s get a little bit more tighter, okay, we’re not gonna throw this, we’re not, you can do this, but we’re not gonna do it against this guy, you’re not gonna do it against that guy, and win fights.”
General Boxing
Q: And there’s been some talk that Dana White might get into boxing promotion too. Do you think he could be successful on that side of it too?
MVP:“Dana White is one of the greatest promoters of our time. Anything that he decides to promote, including slap fighting, who knew? As crazy as I think, and stupid as I think slap fighting is, it seems to be popular. With somebody like him behind it, he can promote anything. So yes, if he goes into boxing, he will do exceptionally well. He’s already got a list of fighters that 100% would be comfortable boxing as well, including myself. So he’s got a roster of fighters that would 100% jump over and then there’s going to be loads of people that would want to jump on his promotion just to have him behind them, marketing them. So, yeah, he’ll do exceptionally well.”
Q: What did you make of looking at boxing still? What’d you make of Tyson Fury’s retirement?
MVP:“I think he made a mistake putting a bit too much size on and I feel like he wasn’t as fast as he could be or could have been in that last fight. And then the retirement, well he’s retired about seven or eight times, so I don’t believe that’s over. There’s definitely still that Anthony Joshua fight to be made that everyone would a 100% tune in to watch, which means there’s loads of money there to be made for him. So, in all honesty, I think he retires, parties, gets out of his system, and then he comes back and looks for the next fight. I believe that will happen again.”
Q: And do you think we’ll get the Anthony Joshua fight at some point?
MVP:“Those kinds of things make a lot of money, especially with what Turki Al-Sheikh is doing and the money that he’s throwing at people. I’m sorry but if I could have been retired 10 years, if he throws a certain amount of money at me, I’m getting out of my bed. I’m going back to the gym. I think everybody’s got a number that is like, why not? There’s nothin. bad can happen after getting paid like that. I definitely see him coming back. “
Q: You mentioned boxers getting paid a lot of money. Is there any any concern with that side of it?
MVP:“I think it’s a good thing in terms of the boxing is so segmented, that it’s always hard to make fights. So you would need somebody with this kind of money to make these fights happen. And I feel like he only cares about just making those fights happen and just bringing it all over to Saudi and promoting Saudi. So it’s good because fighters are going to get good pay and the crowd are going to get to see the fight they want to happen at the time. And it should happen versus it being five, six years old, going to go back and forth in negotiation and speculation. We’ll get to see these fights quickly.”
Q: Did you see former UFC fighter Darren Till at the weekend in Misfits? If so, what did you make of his performance?
MVP:“I’ve always known Darren Till as an exceptional striker. I knew he boxed as well. I hear from different people in different gyms that he’s boxed. He does training with a lot of high level boxers, including the likes of Tyson Fury. I’ve heard that it’s not as straightforward as people think. He’s a competent boxer. Anthony Taylor, he’s gone from fighting the likes of Kid Galahad, that weight and he’s just blown up and I feel he’s just doing it cause he can make money and he enjoys entertaining. I didn’t expect anything other than what I saw happen.”
Q: How would Jake Paul do in those events? Could he fight at that level?
MVP:“100%. There’s no way someone as talented as him wouldn’t do well. There are some guys in there that can actually box. They’re actually very competent. People like Dean The Great. He can really box and again, he’s in the good gym in LA that has super talented boxers in there and he’s up there with them. He can competently box.
“And there’s a lot of other guys that are the same. So as much as we keep saying they’re YouTubers, some of them are very competent and have actually been boxing for a little while. So he has to be careful of those ones. There are some guys that he has to be careful of. I think Idris Vergo would be a good fight for him because he can box. So it’d be a tough fight for him. So there’s guys like that he’s going to have to be careful of, but it actually makes for an exciting boxing fight. But Jake Paul, I don’t think he’s super technical, but you can tell he’s heavy handed by how he lands punches and how people respond to getting hit, you can tell he’s heavy handed, so again, he has to just be careful. If he can be eyes wide open for 8 rounds, 10 rounds, whatever they decide to do, he definitely beats him skill for skill. “
Q: Do you think Darren Till will ever get back in to UFC?
MVP:“I would like it. I’m not sure as to why he left, to be fair. . I feel like Darren’s very entertaining, just as a character. So I don’t understand, there might have been something personal, I don’t know. . But yeah, I think hopefully the route that he’s gone now, He won’t get back in, but if he goes back into MMA, gets a couple of good fights again, I’m sure that he can get back into the UFC because great talent, great character, especially for things like press conferences and stuff. He’s a funny guy. I’m looking at the UK card and it doesn’t look massively exciting. There’s a couple of good fights, but in terms of from the bottom of the card all the way up, I’m not massively excited and there’s no disrespect to anybody. I’m just not massively excited. But then if you had the likes of a Darren Till that could also add to the cards. I guess it would make it more exciting. “
Q: What did you make of the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, assume you weren’t impressed?
MVP:“I always try to put two hats on when I’m looking at it. From a fight fan, that perspective. Then you got to look at it with a business hat on and understand why these things can happen. Even down to it being a good kickstarter for Netflix to even now start incorporating live shows onto their site. Live NFL’s on there, they’re putting the Smackdowns and all the wrestling on there as well. Slowly they’re gonna start, you’re gonna start seeing football and basketball on there, which for me is great. So I understand from a business point of view, it’s a great kickstarter to kinda get everybody talking about it. But it was definitely something that everybody spoke about. As a fight fan, I hated every second of it. I hated even when it was announced. I didn’t like it at all, I’ll just leave it at that. “
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