Michael Page reveals that PFL appearance directly led to UFC signing: “Kicked everybody into gear”

Welterweight contender Michael Page has admitted that his PFL appearance helped push him right into the UFC.

‘MVP’ is the UFC’s newest signing. Dana White himself announced the move late Saturday night, following Colby Covington’s loss to Leon Edwards. In the process, it ended months of speculation as to where Michael Page was headed after ending his lengthy Bellator tenure.

The former title challenger announced his free agency earlier this year and had a wide array of options. Despite interest from ONE Championship and PFL, Michael Page decided that the Dana White-led promotion was his rightful home. In March, he will make his promotional debut at UFC 299 against Kevin Holland.

For some, Michael Page’s UFC signing came a bit off-guard. While he’s teased the move for months, the former Bellator star appeared at a PFL event earlier this month. At PFL Europe 4, he had a face-off with rising star, Cedric Doumbe. ‘The Best’ moved to 5-0 with a nine-second knockout win over Jordan Zebo in September.

In a recent interview with The K/O Show, Michael Page discussed that PFL face-off. There, he stated that he was playing chess, and trying to decide the right place for him at the time. However, the face-off with Doumbe later directly led to his UFC signing, as it forced them to get moving on a potential deal.

RELATED: MICHAEL CHANDLER HILARIOUSLY MOCKS COLBY COVINGTON’S UFC 296 LOSS: “HE TOOK 1776 SHOTS TO THE FACE”

Image via: @michaelvenompage on Instagram

Michael Page reflects on PFL Europe 4 face-off with Cedric Doumbe

“I’m playing chess. That kind of kicked off a number of things.” Michael Page stated on the podcast, recalling his PFL appearance earlier this month. “Everyone was like Dana’s fumbled it and this and that and it was interesting to see people’s perceptions of what’s going on. And again, my phone’s blowing up like what’s going on bruv, people were confused… I would 100% say yes [that the staredown forced UFC’s hand to sign him]. There was a little bit of a lull even for me. It was getting to the point where even for me it was like, come on, because we’ve had talks.” (h/t MMA News)

He continued, “We’d been flirting already, guys had seen me at the UFC, they showed me on the UFC as the hottest free agent on the market all that blah blah blah, and then nothing. So this definitely kind of kicked everybody into gear, both from the UFC, both from PFL and they were kind of like, it was a bit of an auctioning battle at the end but literally, the last 48 hours has been insane.”

Michael Page concluded, “The UFC brand, as you know, we’ve known each other for many years, that’s always been a goal. Even when I got into MMA, the goal was to eventually go to UFC, it was never gonna be like, the Bellator thing was just a left turn. It was kind of like it’s a massive organization that like was interested in me after my first fight. So again, it still felt like a stepping stone.”

What do you make of these comments from Michael Page? Are you happy he signed with the UFC?