Ultimate Fighting Championship could have parted with him in a more respectful manner.
Page (26-3) exhausted his UFC contract with a controversial unanimous decision victory Nursultan Ruziboev at
UFC Paris. “Venom” was denied a post-fight interview, then dropped from the official UFC rankings and UFC CEO
Dana White confirmed that his contract will not be renewed.
Michael Page questions UFC treatment after four straight wins and exiting contract
Page went 5-1 in the UFC and was riding a four-fight winning streak after his contract expired. As such, he believes he deserved at least contract negotiations rather than an outright exit from the promotion.
“I had goals to achieve and despite everything, I won my battles, which tells me you have to stay,” Page told Ariel Helwan. “It’s the premise of this game that success should bring more opportunities. So I still felt like we were sitting at the table … I felt like what could happen is they’d just say, ‘Look, we can re-sign you, but it’s a lot less,’ and we’ll work from there. But I wouldn’t have expected it to be handled the way I thought it was unfair.”
Page was known for his highlight reel knockouts Bellator MMA. He parted ways with Bellator in 2023 when he took over
Professional fighter league and signed with the UFC. Page’s flamboyant style didn’t translate into his UFC career, as he faced some serious backlash as he struggled to score points from distance and was unable to register any finishes inside the octagon.
Notably, Page was not allowed a post-fight Octagon interview following his win over Ruziboyev, marking the second time this has happened. He says the UFC could have let him talk to the crowd in Paris if they already knew he was going to be released.
“You’ve seen fights that have been absolutely terrible and they can still get on the mic and say their thing,” Page added. “This is the second time it’s happened to me. I feel like especially when you knew you weren’t going to re-sign me, what was the harm in me even talking to my fans, talking to the audience in Paris, who are amazing? I don’t understand who’s making these calls to find out who I would even go to to be like, ‘What is this?'”
