Exclusive: Michael ‘Venom’ Page vows to bring the ‘noise’ and make rapid UFC rise – ‘I can beat anybody’

Michael ‘Venom’ Page has explained why “the time was right” for him to sign for the UFC, and insists he intends to “create so much noise” in what he hopes will be a rapid rise to the top.

Page sat down for an in-depth interview with TNT Sports to talk through his move from Bellator to UFC.

“The time was right,” he said. “Honestly speaking, the brand is too strong, too powerful.

“I think that, aligned with the brand that I’ve managed to create over the years, it just magnifies it to a completely different level.

“I know what I can do in the UFC. I still feel great, better than great – I’m still getting better and evolving as a fighter.

“I know I can do big things. Some of the KOs that you’ve seen at Bellator, at the UFC if I pull these things off, it’s game over.”

Page explained that he considered his age and his earnings when making the call on what to do next after becoming a highly sought-after free agent.

“You have to weigh things up and I’m a very logical thinker,” he said.

“I have to sit down and think ‘ok how much time do I want to have left, is it the right decision to just make a lot of money now?’ I had to go through all that in my head.

“But it always comes down to my ego saying that I can beat anybody over there. There’s not one person that can beat me. That’s what my ego is saying to me. So just go and show everybody that you can do it.

“The thought is also the amount of time I’ve got left. I’m in it for a short time, not a long time, and I’m going to create so much noise and do it very, very quickly.”

Page comes into the UFC with a 21-2 MMA record from his time in Bellator and isn’t planning on wasting any time once he gets started under the bright lights of the UFC.

“I see myself doing one big fight. Boom, big knockout. Another big fight. Boom, big knockout. Title fight. Boom, big knockout. Belt. Beat someone else, beat someone else,” he said.

“Just show the world exactly my level and then we’ll see. I want to get myself to point where I don’t have to fight, I choose to fight if my body is still feeling great.

“The only time I would stop really, and I’m not putting a specific number of years in, is if I can’t do the camp to get me to the fight.

“A lot of people from what I’ve seen ignore that they’re struggling in the camp, because that show and that buzz at the end is so addictive. So they bypass all this stuff; that they can’t train as hard, can’t do the same runs, the same fitness, all the exercises. But they do it anyway.

“For me, the second I struggle in here [the gym], the second these youngsters are destroying me in here, I’m done. Like I said, it’s nowhere near happening.

“I’m saying that in terms of I just want to go crazy right now. I don’t want to waste time. I don’t want a warm-up fight. I want to be at the top straight away.”

First up, Page faces Holland in a welterweight bout in Miami.

Although Page is well aware of the dangers the 31-year-old American poses, he believes he can use the fight as a chance to silence any remaining doubters of his ability.

“I’m a fan of him because he’s a great character, a great fighter, a dangerous fighter. I’m trying to come in and go straight to the top, to prove what can be done. But I think it’s a great match-up,” Page said.

“I feel like it’s going to be a stand-up match, but jujitsu is nothing to play games about, if he catches your leg, gets your head in the wrong place, catches your neck with long arms, it’s dangerous.

“I have to be on my A-game, and this is where I am now. I’m in a place where there are land mines absolutely everywhere, no matter which direction you walk in, everybody’s dangerous for whatever reason.”

Page added: “It will be good to shut everybody up. Kevin unfortunately might have to go to sleep temporarily, and in that moment everyone’s going to be like: ‘Ok, it’s real’.

“If I do exactly what I’ve done my whole career, they’ll be like ‘I get it now’ and have to look back at everybody and almost apologise, like: ‘you guys were up against an absolute animal’.”