Michael Page expects Jared Cannonier to struggle with his speed at UFC 319.
Page (23-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) meets former middleweight title challenger Cannonier (18-8 MMA, 11-8 UFC) on the Aug. 16 main card from United Center in Chicago (ESPN+, ESPN, pay-per-view).
Cannonier snapped a two-fight losing skid with a come-from-behind knockout of Gregory Rodrigues in the UFC Fight Night 251 headliner. Page says that performance proved that the 41-year-old still has plenty of fight left in him.
“Similar to myself, it’s the last lap around the track, and he wants to try and get a title shot, and he’s pushing for that,” Page told MMA Junkie of Cannonier. “Regardless of the losses, he’s still motivated and you can see that because he’s turned it around, and even in that fight that he won (against Rodrigues), he didn’t start so well. He took a heavy shot, got rocked, and managed to come back and turn it back around and win that fight.
“It shows his motivations and aspirations still in the sport, regardless of his age. He’s still like, ‘y’Yep, I still want this.’ It means I’m going to be fighting somebody super motivated to move forward, which is amazing, and that’s what I want. I want somebody who is as equally excited and motivated as me to make noise and push forward.”
Cannonier took umbrage with the UFC offering him unranked Page, but “MVP” sees an equal amount to gain for his opponent.
“Even though he says I’m not in the division, I think a win over me for him looks exceptional, and I still think he’ll be in and amongst the guys at the top five, basically,” Page said. “He’ll still be close to having that title fight.”
Breaking the fight down, Page sees plenty of openings on the feet.
“Yeah, 100 percent he’ll take me down,” Page said. “It’ll be smart for him to take me down. He’s super powerful. He was at heavyweight at one point, then to light heavyweight, then he’s come down to middleweight. He’s going to carry some of that natural power that he’s had from years in his career. He’s super powerful, very smart in how he does certain things, and picks his shots really, really well.
“I still don’t believe he’s going to be anywhere near as fast as me – nowhere near, and that’s what he’s going to struggle in. Watching him against (Robert) Whittaker, because Whittaker’s got a nice bounce, what he tried to do is like everybody: Chop your legs down first, but then leaves himself very open for jabs and shots down the middle. Every time he’s gotten caught is shots down the middle because he likes to open his hands and get those big hooks and land those big shots. But for me, speed kills.”
