Michael Jerome Reece-Page aka Michael “Venom” Page (MVP), was born 7th April, 1987, in Hackney, London (England) and is one of Bellator’s premier welterweight fighters owning an impressive record of 18 wins and 1 loss, with 11 of those wins coming by way of knockout, and 3 via submission.
Page’s most notable win is over former UFC and now Bellator competitor, Paul Daley in a closely fought 5-round fight in the quarter final of Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix.
MVP is one of 10 children and is not the only sibling with fighting credentials, with 4 of his siblings previously winning kickboxing championships. Page and his siblings were influenced at a young age by his father, Curtis Page Sr. who was the instructor of the highly successful siblings.
Page has an extensive background in kickboxing and karate, winning multiple championships in the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (WAKO), and also taking home gold in International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) tournaments.
This background lent itself immensely to Page’s MMA career giving MVP an abundance of confidence enabling him to outclass any and all competitors on the feet. This super-confidence and showboating MVP energy signature leads to polarising views – with fans either loving or loathing Page’s unorthodox style.
However, one thing that cannot be argued, love or hate Page, is his elite unconventional stand-up skill matched by few welterweights in the world.
Page took on his most formidable opponent on the 11th of May 2019 in Douglas Lima, the Bellator Welterweight champion in the semi-final of Bellator’s Welterweight Grand Prix. However, after previously hurting Lima in the fight, MVP, unfortunately, came upon the losing end, giving Page his first and only loss to date.
Despite this set back MVP has bounced back strongly, winning 4 fights in a row and looking to get revenge and a shot at the Welterweight title calling Lima out in the post-fight interview after his win against Richard Kiely at Bellator 227.
Page’s impressive fight style did not go unnoticed, earning himself a contract with Bellator after just his 5th professional MMA fight in May 2014, and he continues to make headway in the organisation intent to capture Bellator gold in the future.
Now you have a brief background into the Bellator fighter, Michael Page, let’s get into the “Venom” injected into his Top 5 MMA Finishes! (in descending order)
5. Vs. Jeremie Holloway – Bellator 153 (April 22, 2016)
This was Page’s 10th professional MMA fight going into the contest with a record of 9-0, with an 88% finish rate, and so he aimed to build on this against Holloway.
Holloway comes sprinting forward and, within the first two seconds, is knocked down with a straight right. Holloway’s game plan is clear to see and he is very aggressive, pressing the action forward compared to many other opponents who standoff looking perplexed by Page’s unorthodox movements.
The straight right continues to connect on Holloway’s chin, defusing his over-aggressive nature. Holloway still pushes forward trying to clinch, but Page is able to Thai trip him and latch onto his ankle, controlling the foot and clamping on an impressive toe hold at 2 minutes, 15 seconds of the first round.
Holloway tapped out shortly afterward, in visible pain, an after-effect of the hold. This submission is one of only three from MVP’s MMA career and his best – since being able to secure a rare toe hold submission is no easy feet (or err…rather, feat)!
4. Vs. Richard Kiely – Bellator 227 (Sept. 27, 2019)
After losing to Douglas Lima the fight before, MVP looked to regain form in his fight against Richard Kiely in Dublin, Ireland.
The fight starts, and Page seems mentally unphased by his KO loss to Lima and is back to his flashy, unorthodox style, darting in and out getting overemphasized reactions from Kiely.
At a minute, 30 seconds in, Kiely throws a superman punch, but Page turns the corner and trips Kiely to the canvas. Page takes advantage of the situation and lands some heavy strikes in Kiely’s half guard; however, MVP is disciplined by the referee, Dan Miragliotta, for showboating and the imitating of taking a selfie with his opponent whilst mid-striking.
After the fight is stood up, MVP closes the distance and lands his signature, walk-off flying knee causing the referee to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 42 seconds into the first round.
3. Vs. Giovanni Melillo – Bellator London 2 (Nov. 23, 2019)
This fight took place in Page’s hometown, London, and didn’t disappoint the hometown crowd, as MVP aimed to rebuild for a title challenge.
The karate-blitzing style of MVP causes Melillo problems from the very outset, and at 1 minute, 15 seconds into the first round he lands a big right hand that backs Giovanni up.
Melillo can’t seem to time the bouncing nature of MVP in and out of the pocket, and as Giovanni throws a leg kick, MVP bursts through the kick, landing a one-shot overhand right KO quickly finishing the fight 1 minute, 47 seconds into the first round.
2. Vs. “Cyborg” Santos – Bellator 158 (July 16, 2016)
The first minute-and-a-half of this fight was largely a feeling-out process until MVP unleashes a flying knee which leads to a takedown from Santos. Cyborg uses the takedown to great effect and controls Page for the rest of the round but doesn’t land anything of significance throughout.
The second round starts with a slow pace with MVP feinting and potshotting Santos, and Cyborg biding his time, waiting for Page to make a mistake.
At 3 minutes, 30 seconds into the round, MVP hits Cyborg with a left kick to the liver that hurts Santos, informing Page to increase the pressure.
Cyborg seems to have slightly recovered and fires a right hand but then runs smack-bang into a devastating, flying MVP knee, landing in the centre of his temple, stopping the fight, dead, 4 minutes, 31 seconds into the second round as Cyborg crumbles to the ground in excruciating pain.
This impressive knockout was named MMA Junkie’s and Sherdog’s Best Knockout of 2016, and photographic evidence after the fight showed that the flying knee had left a skull-crushing indent on Santos’ cranium.
1. Vs. Ben Dishman – UCMMA 26 (Feb. 4, 2012)
This fight was MVP’s professional MMA debut, and he looked to hit the ground running and display his extensive background in karate and kickboxing.
Dishman’s knowledge of MVP’s outstanding stand-up skill suggested that he immediately close the distance as he charges forward, trying to clinch Page, but MVP is able to deter the attempt.
Fifty seconds in, Dishman dives into a takedown attempt to no avail, and as he returns to his feet, Page launches an unbelievable tornado kick that lands clean on Dishman’s chin resulting in an unexpected debut TKO just 1 minute, 5 seconds into the first round.
With the climax of this unprecedented tornado kick debut finish, we can scan back and see that Page displayed his hyper-confident nature right from the beginning of his MMA career, leaving us with one of the best finishes ever seen!
