The UFC is the world leader in MMA. It has maintained its position by constantly adding and developing talent. Over the last few months, the UFC signed two marquee names in Michael Page and Kayla Harrison, from rival promotions Bellator and PFL MMA. ‘Venom’ has already made his debut and secured a clinical win. Harrison, on the other hand, will make her debut a few days from now. With the win for Page, the obvious question is who is next? While most suggested Stephen Thompson, ‘Venom’ is not a big fan of the idea.
‘Venom’ made his debut at UFC 299 with a unanimous decision win over Kevin Holland. Following the win, he claimed he was ready to take on the big names in the division with the ultimate goal of challenging for the title. Page recently joined the ‘UFC Unfiltered‘ podcast where he explained why a fight between him and Stephen Thompson would not be exciting for fans. ‘Venom’ stated that their fighting styles are similar which could lead to a boring fight, claiming,
“It is weird, there is no one that excites me. A lot of people mentioned Wonderboy’s name and I always say the same thing, sometimes two positives do not produce a positive. Since we’re such similar styles, the cat and mouse trying to set traps and stuff would be a boring fight for people that don’t understand what they’re watching. There are loads of other exciting fights in the division which is great. There are landmines everywhere around me.”
The phenomenon mentioned by Page is something UFC fans have witnessed in the past. A prime example of the same was the fight between Lewis and Ngannou. On paper, it should have been a brawl with a certain knockout. However, in reality, it was a snoozefest.
Who could be the right opponent for Michael Page in the UFC?
Page secured an impressive win over a ranked fighter in Holland and showed that he belongs in the UFC. The win got him to rank 13 in the welterweight division. There are a few fighters in and around him in the rankings that could make for a good fight.
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Joaquin Buckley is a name that stands out immediately after he recently secured an impressive win over Vicente Luque. Geoff Neal and Neil Magny are also two names that make a lot of sense since they’re both ranked higher than Page and do not have a fight scheduled as of now.
Hence, from the looks of it, Michael Page does have a pretty diverse list of fighters to choose his next opponent from.
