MICHAEL ‘VENOM’ PAGE (11-0) has been garnering plenty of hype in the mixed martial arts world lately and the English welterweight further enhanced his reputation last night.
Taking on Brazilian veteran Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos (21-18) at Bellator 158 at London’s O2 Arena, Page produced something special for his hometown crowd.
Approaching the end of the second round, Cyborg shot in for a takedown, only to be met with a stunning flying knee from Page, which gave MVP his 11th professional win from as many bouts — 10 of which have come via stoppage (seven by KO, three submissions).
While Page has yet to be tested by a legitimate world-class welterweight, the 29-year-old — who possesses a unique style of striking — is prone to the spectacular and his star continues to rise under the banner of the second-largest MMA promotion in the world.
“So many people have titles,” Page said afterwards. “Not everyone can create a legacy in a sport. My stand-up style is completely different than anybody out there. That’s the kind of thing I want. The way the Gracies — Royce is here somewhere — what he did to the sport of MMA is what I want to do to the sport of MMA.”
On Twitter, referee John McCarthy revealed the extent of the ferocity of the knee, claiming that it resulted in Cyborg sustaining a fractured skull.
Unfortunately, Page put a dampener on his win by making a Pokemon reference in his post-fight interview: “For all the Pokemon Go lovers, I think I just caught me a Cyborg.”
Other significant results at Bellator 158 included a unanimous-decision defeat for a lacklustre Paul Daley against Douglas Lima in the main event, while 19-year-old Irishman James Gallagher dominated Mike Cutting in his debut for the promotion to take his record to 4-0.
Bellator 158
- Douglas Lima def. Paul Daley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Matt Mitrione def. Oli Thompson via TKO (punches) after 4:21 of round two
- Francis Carmont def. Lukasz Klinger via submission (D’arce choke) after 3:54 of round one
- Michael Page def. Evangelista Santos via KO (flying knee) after 4:31 of round two
- James Gallagher def. Mike Cutting via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- James Mulheron def. Neil Grove via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-26)
- Luiz Henrique Tosta vs. Dean Garnett ended in a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
- Danny Mitchell def. CJ Meeks via submission (twister) after 4:25 of round one
- Nathaniel Wood def. Chase Morton via submission (rear naked choke) after 3:55 of round three
- Jason Radcliffe def. Jack Mason via KO (knee) after 0:14 of round one
- Manuel Garcia def. Alex Reid via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Pietro Menga def. Spencer Hewitt via KO (punch) after 0:41 of round one
- Mike Shipman def. Dominic Clark via submission (anaconda choke) after 1:33 of round one
