Michael ‘Venom’ Page doesn’t want Sharaputdin Magomedov to fight Israel Adesanya. To those who do not know, ‘Bullet’ had called out Adesanya after knocking Armen Petrosyan out at UFC 308 with the first-of-its-kind double-spinning back fist. Fighting and beating Adesanya would slingshot Magomedov into the title picture and bolster his resume. But MVP believes that he is a better opponent for Magomedov. Why does he think so?

‘Venom’ appeared in a recent conversation with Mike Heck of MMA Fighting on SBN, where the host of the show asked him if he wanted to fight anyone after Kevin Holland and Ian Garry. Well, MVP did have a name in his mind and it was indeed Magomedov. 

Page was pretty impressed with the way he defeated Petrosyan at UFC 308. Who would have expected a double-spinning back fist to do the job? Reflecting on ‘Bullet’s post-fight interview, MVP said, “Then he called, yeah, then he called out my boy ‘Izzy.’ Mate, I’m at that weight right now. You don’t even have to wait too long. That one there, I’ll just take straight away just for the fun of it.”

Rightfully, Heck asked if MVP was willing to move up to 185 pounds to fight the undefeated middleweight. He replied, “That’s what I’m fighting at, that’s what I’m grappling at right now. So,  I’m in shape now. Ready to go. So, that’s a good fight for me, I think, you know. Just a nice standup fight for everybody. Just a comeback to the game.” 

And as far as Israel Adesanya was concerned, Michael Page didn’t really want anyone to bother him. ‘Bullet’ claimed that he was the best striker in the world and he was coming for Adesanya. It was nothing short of a spine-chilling callout, which gave the Nigerian-born fighter an ultimatum.

The former 2-time MW champion is 2-3 in his last 5 and 1-3 in title bouts. Weighing in on that, MVP said, “Like I said, leave my boy Izzy alone, he’s trying to get back to the belt, to the throne. I’ll take his place.” 

Now, the fighting community has been wondering about Adesanya’s response to ‘Shara Bullet’. Let’s see what he had to say about the surprising challenge!

Israel Adesanya responds to Sharaputdin Magomedov’s callout

Needless to say, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been the standard at middleweight since 2019, right up until Alex Pereira ended his title reign. But in his callout, the undefeated middleweight turned that against him. ‘Bullet’ said, “I’m the best striker in the division. Israel Adesanya I will smash you. I’m coming for you, I’ll beat you. The pirate is here! The pirate captured you.” 

‘Shara Bullet’ revealed that he had been trying to get a hold of Adesanya for a long time now. Back when ‘The Last Stylebender’ trained in China during the early days of his kickboxing career, ‘Bullet’ went to challenge Adesanya. However, by the time Magomedov got to him, he had already moved to the UFC. The undefeated prospect chased him to the Octagon and finally got the chance to call him out.

But Adesanya seemed to have taken it all as a joke. Taking to his YouTube channel, he reacted Magomedov’s callout in a hilarious aspect by incorporating Will Smith’s controversy with Chris Rock. He said, “Keep my name out of your f–king mouth. What did I do? Why did you say ‘f me’ for? I’m like, what did he say?” 

On top of that, Adesanya has received challenges from various fighters with a higher profile in the middleweight division. The list includes the champion Dricus Du Plessis who is willing to give him a rematch. Adesanya will surely want to reclaim his throne but that is a long road. With contenders like Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland itching for a title shot, ‘Izzy’ will have to put on the contender suit and fight another top ranked fighter. Magomedov, who just entered the middleweight rankings at #14 is definitely not at the top of the picking order for the former champion unless he and Dana White decide to go for the outrageous.

The baton now lies with ‘Shara Bullet’. Would the undefeated prospect take up the fight against Michael ‘Venom’ Page? Or will he want a higher-ranked contender from the middleweight division? With Khamzat Chimaev jumping ten spots to #3, everyone other than Strickland and Adesnya has dropped a spot, and beating ‘Shara Bullet’ might get some brownie points with the UFC brass. The middleweight division just got a lot more interesting and Page’s impending entry (possible against Magomedov) only stirs the pot further.