Uncasville, CT — Michael “Venom” Page returned to the Bellator cage Friday, and made it look as easy as ever as he dismantled the face of top ten ranked Derek Anderson. Page had admitted his frustration with Bellator this week, but Scott Coker speaking with the star and this performance have brought a smile back to his face.
“I’m on a mission,” Page told the media, including Cageside Press, backstage at the Mohegan Sun Arena following the bout. “Taking things a bit more seriously, wasn’t looking to waste too much time. Get in there and get out.”
Page has long withstood ridiculous criticism from MMA fans of “facing trash cans” throughout his career. The dismantling of his fellow ranked opponent may change this view, but Page thinks it will continue.
The criticism is “because of how I do things with ease,” Page stated. “Now he [Anderson] will just become a can. Not because he’s not a great MMA fighter but because of how I make people look in there. I’ve accepted that I’m on a mission for one person.”
That person is Douglas Lima, the lone loss of MVP’s career. Lima is defending his title in June, but Page is hoping very soon he will be challenging for gold once more.
Scott Coker seemed to have a similar line of thought Friday following Bellator 258, both on the “fighting cans” notion and a potential title shot.
“That [criticism of Page’s opposition] I never understood. People give him a bad time online, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘this guy is such a highly skilled mixed martial arts athlete,’ and has a traditional karate background, which you saw today,” Coker stated during the post-fight press conference.
As for a shot at gold, “I think he deserves a title shot. So let’s see what happens with the Lima fight.” Champ Douglas Lima faces Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 258 in June. Page, meanwhile, improved to 19-1 with the win over Anderson. His only loss came to Lima in 2019, in the welterweight grand prix semifinals.
Watch the full Bellator 258 post-fight press conference with Michael Page above.
