Michael Page has a sound reason for remaining in the UFC middleweight division.
Prior to handing Shara Magomedov his first-career loss at UFC Fight Night 250 in February, Page told MMA Junkie that his middleweight appearance would be a one-off and that he planned on going back down to welterweight. However, Page (23-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) finds himself booked against former 185-pound title challenger Jared Cannonier (18-8 MMA, 11-8 UFC) at UFC 319 on Aug. 16 from United Center in Chicago.
So how did he end up here?
“It is what it is. It’s kind of worked out how it’s worked out,” Page told MMA Junkie. “I would have preferred to get a fight in the welterweight division. As I’ve said before, it feels like there’s a lot more politics going on in the welterweight division, and everyone’s a bit more tentative about who they fight. I’m just not at that stage of my career to care enough.
“I’m just like, ‘Give me a good fight, and I’m in.’ I expected after that last win I was going to get another good fight, and I was getting names that didn’t really make any sense. So, middleweight it is. I’m happy to get such a high-level fighter, probably the highest-ranked fighter that I’ve had so far. So I’m excited. I’m happy with the fights that I’ve had.”
Page still hopes to get a U.K. vs. U.K. showdown against former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards some day but doesn’t see the current landscape at 170 pounds getting any less tangled.
“Now having confirmed that Islam (Makhachev) is coming up to welterweight to fight Jack Della (Maddalena), again, it feels like welterweight is just going to be a bit of a holdup,” Page said. “Middleweight right now definitely seems way more exciting. Obviously I got Jared to focus on at the moment, but I may be staying here for a while until things start moving again at welterweight.”
