Michael Page announced his arrival to the UFC in style. Soon after his dominant win over Kevin Holland, talks of a potential fight against Stephen Thompson were doing the rounds. However, in reality, pitting two of the best counter strikers against each other might be all foam and no beer. And that was exactly what buddies Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and Bellator veteran Michael ‘Venom’ Page basically thought would happen if they went up against each other.
Both the fighters have a Karate background, employing a wide stance and effectively using their reflex to counter their opponents. Even before ‘Wonderboy’ gave his thoughts, the Brit issued a warning, revealing how that matchup would offer no entertainment value to the fans. Reflecting on the same, MVP stated,
“Two positives doesn’t always make a Positive.”
Referring to ‘MVP’s’ take, the 41-year-old shared his take on InsideFighting when asked about his thoughts on a possible matchup between the two. He said,
“We have such similar styles, it could possibly be a very boring fight for everybody. We’re both counter-strikers, you know, very similar styles so it could basically mean me and him bouncing out there in the middle just waiting on somebody to do something. Even though we have similar styles, that doesn’t always make it an exciting fight.”
Furthermore, speaking to InsideFighting’s Mike Owens, Thompson revealed why ‘MVP’ might be the next big thing in the UFC. After all, he has the skill, years of experience fighting in Bellator battling the best of the best, and the charisma of a true showman.
Although Thompson seemingly bypassed MVP, the veteran is eyeing to go one on one against fighters of a different discipline to improve his game and keep on moving forward.
“Wonderboy” says no to the ‘MVP’ matchup, but shows his warrior spirit
Often touted as one of the most accomplished strikers in UFC, saying no to an exciting matchup is never an option for ‘Wonderboy.’ After all, the veteran, despite his age, jumped straight into the cage with the young Kazakh killer, Shavkat Rakhmonov when everybody else in the division was shying away.
As far as the South Carolina native is concerned, Thompson says he is more into facing wrestlers so that he can improve his wrestling and ground game considerably. Thus, it is quite evident that even at 41, Thompson is not ready to bid adieu to fighting. However, whether he will be able to keep the same sharpness as before is a question that can only be answered in the future.
