Why Did Michael ‘Venom’ Page Leave Bellator for UFC?

Michael ‘Venom’ Page, with a 1-1 record since debuting in the UFC as a welterweight has transitioned into a middleweight and has landed in Saudi Arabia for UFC Fight Night 250. Taking on the up-and-coming prospect, Sharaputdin Magomedov, the 37-year-old, would hope to get back in the winning column. Nevertheless, Page has had a respectable career outside the UFC with a 22-3 record, since he had a decade-long run in a rival promotion, Bellator.

It’s not a very easy task to become a recognizable and popular figure in mixed martial arts if you are not in the UFC, but that wasn’t the case for Michael Page. The Englishman, throughout his Bellator run, showcased some impressive and unique performances and was one of the top stars in that promotion. However, all good things come to an end and he exited the promotion nearly a couple of years ago.

MVP reveals why he left Bellator

Needless to say, Michael ‘Venom’ Page was perhaps one of the most popular fighters for Bellator. Of course, his flashy fighting style was what got him to that spot as he garnered hundreds of millions of views across social media platforms for his highlight reel-making knockout wins. In all fairness, Page could be one of the few MMA fighters who had a bigger name than the promotion he was fighting for.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani last year before signing with the UFC, ‘Venom’ stated that his contract with the Bellator promotion expired as they tried to set him up for a fight. He had held on to resigning from the promotion to see and “explore” other options. As we all know, after many years of fighting in a promotion with fewer eyes than the UFC, Michael Page would find himself in the UFC.

“We were trying to organize, get a fight going, and then, time ran out contract-wise,” Michael ‘Venom’ Page stated. “So, spoke to Bellator, speaking to the management team and I decided, you know, I want to explore this space.”

Michael Page claimed that he had put a few options on the table, as he could have returned to boxing or even bare-knuckle boxing. But given all the years he spent with the Bellator, where he made a name for himself, fans might wonder how is he valued in the UFC. Well, let’s see what he had to say.

Michael ‘Venom’ Page’s UFC contract

In another interview from 2023, while Michael ‘Venom’ Page didn’t share any internal details about his UFC contract, he did reveal that he had always been eyeing a move to the UFC because that was always the plan. And even though he joined Bellator back in 2013, he claimed that it was a “stepping stone” for his eventual move to the world’s premiere MMA organization.

“Well, the UFC brand, as you know, that’s always been a goal. You know what I mean. So even when I got into MMA, the goal was to eventually go to UFC,” Michael Page stated on his YouTube channel. “It was never going to be like that. It is the Bellator kind of thing on the left side. It’s a huge organization that was interested in me after my first fight. So again I still felt like it was like a stepping stone, but when I got there, I was proud of how they were doing things.”

Well, Michael ‘Venom’ Page is in the big leagues now and he’s done pretty well so far. But can he get a win against Sharaputdin Magomedov? Let us know in the comments down below.