Michael Page opens up on his decision to sign with the UFC: “I knew there was more for me”

Michael Page is opening up about his decision to sign with the UFC.

The two-time Bellator title challenger signed with the UFC in December of last year after the expiration of his contract with Bellator. Page (21-2 MMA) had only 1 loss in his last 8 fights under the Bellator banner. Most recently Page, 36, fought and defeated Goiti Yamauchi (28-6 MMA) by TKO in March of last year at Bellator 292.

Page believed his showmanship under the Bellator banner was under appreciated, and once he became a free agent, he made the decision to sign on with the UFC.

Michael Page, speaking on ‘Smack Talk With Sandhu’ shared his thought process in making his career move:

“It was a sense of relief of being free because I have a good relationship with Bellator, and I was happy there. But at the same time, I knew there was more for me.  I felt undervalued there. I just wanted to explore.”

Continuing, ‘Venom’ said:

“So, even if I ended up going back to Bellator, it would be at kind of the value I see myself at. There was a nice sense of relief and freedom to first be out. Then there was a lot of attention, so that was really nice to be fair. It definitely reaffirmed what I thought of myself and how I feel like I should have been appreciated.”

Concluding, Michael Page believes he has something to prove in his new home (h/t MMAJunkie):

“There’s so many names in the UFC that I’ve sparred with and some of them will give you some horror stories of what I’ve done. But none of them would ever downplay the level that I’m at after sparring me.”

“So I’ve always been confident in myself to know what I can do. My ego is definitely just wanting to prove that to everybody else, but at the same time I know. I already know the standard that I’m at. It will be good to just affirm it with the world watching.”

Page will be making his Octagon debut with the UFC on Saturday, March 9th at UFC 299 which takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Page will be going up against Kevin Holland (25-10 MMA) in a welterweight bout.

Are you looking forward to Michael Page vs. Kevin Holland at UFC 299? Do you think Page will see victory in his UFC debut?

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