Michael Venom Page feels that the UFC brass are not really fond of him. During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Page reacted to his booked fight with an unranked welterweight.
“Venom” signed with the UFC in 2023. He made his debut the following year at UFC 299 against Kevin Holland, and won by unanimous decision. However, later that year, at UFC 303, he suffered his first loss in the promotion against Ian Machado Garry.
In 2025, Michael Venom Page moved up to middleweight, faced Sharaputdin Magomedov at UFC Saudi Arabia, and took away the latter’s spotless record after cruising to a unanimous decision win.
Later in 2025, at UFC 319, he faced Jared Cannonier and won by unanimous decision.
“Venom,” who is the No. 14-ranked 170-pounder, will next face England’s Sam Patterson at UFC London on March 21.
Patterson boasts a pro-MMA record of 14-2-1 and is riding a four-fight UFC win streak, but is unranked.
Michael Venom Page had expected to fight a ranked 185-pounder next, especially after two back-to-back wins after moving up in 2025. But the Brit is now moving back down to 170 pounds to fight an unranked opponent. This has led Page to contemplate that perhaps he’s upset somebody in the UFC.
Michael Venom Page does not want to fight Sam Patterson: “It’s definitely not the fight I was looking for”
Michael Venom Page told MMA Junkie that his upcoming opponent is someone he has trained with and knows well, and therefore did not want the fight to be booked. “Venom” also added that he came to the UFC for “big fights,” but nobody ranked is willing to face him.
Yeah, with regards to the fight, it’s not one that I expected or was even looking for. It’s a bit more annoying for me because it’s not just an opponent that feels a bit further down the ladder; he’s also somebody that I’ve worked with before in preparation for other fights, so I know him well. That’s another reason why you don’t really want to have this fight. But more so because, again, I came here for the big fights. I came here for big names. Since my last fight, I’ve been asking for absolutely everybody, and for different reasons, it seems that nobody’s willing to take the fight, or somebody is already matched, or whatever.”
He further added:
So yeah, it’s definitely not the fight I was looking for. I have a lot of respect for Sam, I’m a fan of his as well, I’ve watched him grow. I didn’t believe I was going to have to be in his way in his career and his progression.”
However, the fighters do what they are told, and the show must go on. Michael Venom Page added:
It’s definitely not a fight that I wanted. But at the same time, the show must go on. I must go in there, do what I do best, put on a performance, and then try to push forward. I’m just not sure what winning a fight like this means outside of a potential highlight reel. It’s not the most exciting one for me, definitely not.”
During the same interview, Michael Venom Page confessed that he’s a natural welterweight and hence chose to move back down, but is still not getting exciting opponents.
The UFC London co-main event features a featherweight clash between Luke Riley and Michael Aswell, and the headliner is a title eliminator bout between undefeated 145-pounders Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy.
Michael Venom Page had expected his bout with Sam Patterson to be placed higher on the main card of UFC London. Implying he wanted the co-main event spot, but the UFC matchmakers didn’t show him enough love, which makes him think he has “upset somebody,” MVP told MMA Junkie:
And I would have felt like a name like myself being on that card, I’m definitely going to be positioned as I’m going to go and show out always and make noise as I always done, but I’m being positioned on the card in a weird way, and I’ve been given an opponent which is a bit of a weird opponent, as well. I just wanted to fight. I don’t really want to wait, so it was like, ‘Let’s just do it.’ It just feels like I’ve upset somebody.”
Check out Michael Venom Page’s comments below (1:14):
