Michael 'Venom' Page sees no evolution in Douglas Lima's game ahead of Bellator 267 rematch

LONDON – Michael Page has only been defeated once in his MMA career, and he plans on avenging that loss in front of his own fans at Bellator 267.

Page (19-1 MMA, 15-1 BMMA) takes on three-time former Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima (32-9 MMA, 14-5 BMMA) in the main event at Bellator 267, which takes place Friday at the SSE Arena, Wembley. The event airs on Showtime.

Ahead of the matchup, Page said the chance to get payback on home soil is all the motivation he needs as he targets a path toward the Bellator welterweight title.

Speaking to MMA Junkie on a London bus emblazoned with his name, Page said that competing in his home town – where he has a 5-0 career record – has him feeling suitably inspired ahead of the rematch.

“I think it’s epic,” Page said on Monday. “It’s a feeling that all of us athletes look forward to, being in these kinds of moments. When you first start training and you see other people in the position you want to get to, these are the moments you’re working towards, so this is an amazing feeling to be here.”

Bellator’s return to the English capital follows hot on the heels of a huge boxing event across town at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where England’s Anthony Joshua lost his world heavyweight titles to Oleksander Usyk.

After “A.J.’s” defeat, Page said he wants to give the London fight fans something to celebrate once again, but admitted that’s his plan every time he steps into the Bellator cage, regardless.

“You’ve seen my fights. No matter where I am I always strive to do the entertaining, the entertainment thing, and I always want to give people their value for their ticket,” Page said.

“Yeah 100 percent. I think regardless, that’s me anyway. That side of me doesn’t switch off, or switch on, for other opposing factors. But I definitely want to give the London people something to cheer about and be happy about.”

Page’s main motivation, however, is to take the opportunity to right the wrongs of his previous fight with Lima at Bellator 221 in May 2019, when the Englishman appeared to be faring well before being sent to the canvas by a well-timed calf kick, then knocked out by a perfectly-timed right hand as he attempted to scramble back to his feet.

It remains the only defeat of Page’s MMA career, and now, after reeling off five consecutive wins since that loss, the London Shootfighters-trained welterweight said he has identified the errors from that encounter and is ready to showcase his improvements on Friday night.

“Obviously you watch it initially straight afterwards just to go over exactly what (went wrong), but for me there were (some) very obvious mistakes,” he admitted. “There were very obvious mistakes from me and my team, and I don’t believe Lima’s going to change his style. He’s not going to doctor anything, he’s going to be the same person going into that cage, so there’s not much I need to work on in that sense.

“But (the first fight) was going well for me. I’m going to be 10 times more effective this time while it’s going well and hopefully that’ll win the fight. It definitely will win the fight. But it’s more a case of just being a better, sharper, faster, stronger version of myself, which is exactly what I’ve been doing, and exactly what I am right now.”

Victory over Lima would likely catapult “MVP” into a title fight with the undefeated welterweight champion Amosov, whose fighting style would potentially offer Page a very different test. But, despite the Ukrainian’s unblemished record, Page thinks he has the style to hand him his first career loss.

“I think it’s a very obvious one,” Page said. “His wrestling ability is unbelievable, great. Beautiful style. He’s actually got a really nice flow with his stand-up style. I just personally don’t find him that dangerous standing, which means I can be a little bit more reckless in terms of my positioning, which means I can get a lot more power in terms of my strikes.

“But he’s a person who’s always going to try to hold me down. I’m definitely going to be way more active on my back than Lima was in his last fight, give him a bit more to deal with and be worried about. But then, after that, I’m going to find my shot. I’m going to find my knee, I’m going to find a kick, I’m going to find something that’s going to put him on his ass.”

But before he can zero in on a potential title fight with Amosov, Page needs to turn the tables on the only man to defeat him inside the cage. He said he has the gameplan and fans can expect a performance of precision when he faces Lima once again.

“I’m going to be a little more direct and specific about the type of shots I’m going to be throwing,” he said. “If people noticed or didn’t notice, I rocked him. A few more of those (and) he would have fallen over anyway, and that was in that fight. That was back then when I was a slower version of myself, when I was not as strong as myself now.

“If I can be a bit more precise, that I know I can be, be a bit more careful in terms of positioning – I genuinely mean his low kick is world class. But a few doctors and alterations in position and direction, it’s not even a problem. … It’s definitely not going to the scorecards.”