Michael Page: Kevin Holland definitely won't repeat striking-only agreement for UFC 299 fight
Michael Page believes Kevin Holland has learned his lesson about making gentleman’s agreements with dangerous strikers ahead of their matchup at UFC 299.
Page (21-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a former two-time Bellator title challenger who shares the company record for most knockouts, is set to make his anticipated octagon debut against Holland (25-10 MMA, 12-7 UFC) on March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami. The welterweight bout is expected to open the main card, which airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
Page comes from a decorated striking background that has defined his career to this point, and the matchup has shades of the fight between Holland and Stephen Thompson from UFC on ESPN 42 in December 2022. In that bout, Holland delivered on a pre-fight promise to only stand with “Wonderboy,” giving up ground position during the contest en route to a fourth-round corner stoppage TKO loss that came after a hand injury.
Although Holland is a proud fighter driven by producing entertainment for fans, Page thinks the line has to be drawn somewhere, and he can’t anticipate “Trailblazer” making the same mistake twice.
“I know for a fact Kevin Holland is not going to want to do that agreement again after the whooping that he took against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson,” Page told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “I see myself as the faster, harder-hitting, more dangerous version of a ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. He’s definitely not going to want to do that again. I’m happy to take that deal. If he wants to shake my hand and do that, we can do that. But I don’t believe he’s going to want to. He’s going to want to utilize as much as possible to deal with me.”
Regardless of the game plan Holland brings into the octagon, there’s no secret that Page will do his best to keep the fight standing. Now on the sport’s biggest stage, he wants to add to the epic highlight reel he put together in Bellator, but it won’t be an easy feat.
Holland has never been truly finished with strikes during his 36-fight career and has repeatedly shown his strong chin and durability over that span. It’s not a foreign scenario for Page, however, and whether Holland tries to take him down or opts to stay standing, the Brit sees the result as inevitable.
“Everyone said the same thing to me when I fought Derek Anderson,” Page said. “They said exactly the same thing: ‘Derek Anderson’s never been stopped. Are you going on be able to do that?’ And I broke his face. So that’s all I really have to say to that. I just know what I can do. Even if it goes the distance, he’s going to be a hot mess.
“Anybody that wants to try to shoot for my legs, there’s a knee that’s right there that’s just triggering, waiting for that person to do that. We’ve seen the damage that can do. So it’s up to him.”
Page, 36, ultimately aspires to make a run in the UFC at 170 pounds, and his UFC 299 bout with Holland is the starting point. He said he’s eager to make the most of this chapter of his career, and he thinks attention will gravitate toward him once the UFC audience is exposed to what he’s capable of doing.
“The pressure from everybody else is irrelevant to me,” Page said. “I put that pressure on myself. I want to be a highlight-reel, KO artist. I want to keep upping the level and one-upping myself. For me, that just helps me to grow as a fighter and to grow as a mixed martial artist that I am. Nobody else can pressure me because I put too much on myself anyway. But I know my style by itself, without even adding any of the KOs or anything in there, is super entertaining for everybody to watch. Let’s say I don’t finish him, you’re going to see some crazy kicks, you’re going to see some crazy punches and some crazy interactions, and my hand is still going to get raised.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.