Sharaputdin Magomedov vs. Michael ‘Venom’ Page. UFC Saudi Arabia is the place. February 1 is the date. When these two dynamic strikers let loose in the Octagon, it will be a guaranteed spectacle. Wait, there’s more.

MVP is a welterweight, fighting at middleweight, just because he was at middleweight for a different competition outside the UFC. He chose to fight ‘Shara’ after he called out MVP’s friend Israel Adesanya. And ‘The Pirate’ thinks beating MVP will get him a title shot if he follows up with two or three more ranked wins. If that was not reason enough for you to watch this fight, let us nudge you further a little.

Shara ‘Bullet’ and ‘MVP’ will clash with unorthodox striking at UFC Saudi Arabia

Even though Page has fought just twice in the UFC and lost one of those fights, he has a reputation for being one of the toughest strikers to go up against in the MMA cage. He has secured 12 of his 22 wins by KO/TKO and another 4 by submissions. But it’s not always the number of knockouts that put the fighter on the map. It’s how they did so. And for ‘MVP’, striking wasn’t something that needed to be aligned with traditions. And that is often highlighted by his habit of keeping his hands down low, inviting attacks, and sending precise counterattacks. 

Page is pretty unpredictable with his footwork, as well. His quick shifts in stance often leave his opponents baffled. Take his 2 wins via a flying knee for example. None of the record books would show a similar fighting style in the MMA realm. His unpredictability, combined with his counter strikes has indeed lifted him up in the fighting community as one of the strongest unorthodox fighters in the world. 

Sharaputdin Magomedov is also infamous for his unorthodox striking. The kickboxer greatly impressed the fighting world, including Michael Page, when he threw a double spinning back fist and knocked out Armen Petrosyan at UFC 308. And just like MVP, ‘Bullet’ has used his knees pretty often and has won 4 of his bouts with an unpredictable knee KO. Needless to say, ‘Shara Bullet’ is also a knockout artist with 12 of his 15 wins coming out of KOs. 

Both fighters have a habit of sending precise hits and changing their stances. But ‘Bullet’ oftentimes takes an approach that majorly focuses on kicks rather than fists. However, he has planned not to miss out on taking the fight to the ground. In an interview with MMA Junkie, the Dagestani said, “I’ve had 20 fights in MMA at this point, and I’ve never went for a takedown. I watched his fights. It doesn’t look like he goes for takedowns too much. But I’m going to be that person. I’m going to make ‘MVP’ be the first one to jump for a takedown.” While their fighting style raises the hype regarding their fight at UFC Fight Night 250, the potential for bad blood between them has also attracted fight fans to Riyadh. 

Magomedov vs. Page has the perfect bad-blood potential

Well, the bad blood between Magomedov and MVP has already begun, and it started with the Dagestani sending a challenge for Israel Adesanya after his big win at UFC 308. However, Page decided to intercept the attack and volunteered to fight ‘Bullet’ in Izzy’s stead. Well, the former Bellator star seemed to have Adesanya on a pretty high pedestal. 

And this might be the trigger that would ignite a rivalry between the two. After all, Magomedov has already told Red Corner MMA that he’s going to look at MVP as an opponent and nothing else. ‘Bullet’ said, “I’m not going to look at him as my favorite fighter. But as an opponent who is trying to cause me pain in front of the whole world and my family. Of course, I realize that he is a big threat to me. What he is going to see in that cage will be something he has never seen before. He can’t imagine what kind of predator he’s about to face.”

Nevertheless, MVP isn’t someone who can get intimidated by wordplay. He has predicted that Magomedov would get a bit overconfident and that would be his downfall at UFC Saudi Arabia. And if the Russian decided to go out for a takedown, he’d get really bloodied. No doubt, it’ll all come down to who knocks the other out first. And that will decide their future in the welterweight division. 

Sharaputdin Magomedov vs. Michael ‘Venom’ Page will determine the future of the WW division

Magomedov currently sits at the #14 spot of the middleweight rankings. But his weight lets him move from WW to MW and return back to WW pretty easily. On the other hand, Michael Page is #15 ranked in the welterweight division. And a win would certainly guarantee the fast-track into the title picture. 

However, we still have to wait for the fight on Saturday to finally witness the war between ‘Bullet’ and ‘Venom’. While MVP has dominated the cage at Bellator, Magomedov has conquered his bouts with an undefeated spree. No doubt, UFC Saudi Arabia would be the perfect test for the two of them to show who deserves to go up in the rankings. 

Who do you think would win in the bout between Magomedov and Page? Would we get to see ‘Shara Bullet’ make MVP perform his first takedown at UFC Saudi Arabia? Let us know what you think of the matchup in the comments down below.