Michael Venom Page plans to ‘steal show’ at UFC 303 with big KO of ‘fake Conor McGregor’ Ian Garry and start title run
MICHAEL ‘VENOM’ PAGE plans to steal the show at UFC 303 with one of the biggest knockouts of his career.
The former long-time Bellator welterweight makes his second outing in mixed martial arts’ top promotion in Las Vegas early on Sunday morning.
Page has been assigned one of the toughest tests in the division in his sophomore outing in undefeated Irish sensation Ian Garry.
The pair kick off the pay-per-view portion of the card, which will be headlined by the mouthwatering light-heavyweight title rematch between champion Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.
Page has had a habit of grabbing the headlines with viral finishes throughout his career, something he plans to do again this weekend.
The 37-year-old told SunSport: “I think a lot of people are anticipating [this fight]. There’s massive anticipation for this fight.
“So, there’s gonna be a lot of eyes on it. We’re opening the show, which I actually don’t mind.
“I think it’s quite great, it allows me time to actually enjoy the rest of the show.
“But, I’m just gonna go in there and be me.
“What I’m manifesting is a big knockout, a big stoppage.
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“And if all goes to plan, that is the show stopper. Anyway, that is the show stealer.”
Page wouldn’t just steal the show with a viral stoppage of Garry, he’d rob the No.7-ranked Garry of all his momentum and put himself on the precipice of a title shot.
That fact isn’t lost on the London Shootfighters standout, who said: “[A win], it puts me in a position of being accessible to the belt.
“Straight away or right thereafter.
“So, as you say, he was probably in line to potentially getting – if he had fought Colby and beat Colby – to potentially getting that kind of belt situation.
“So I think it puts me in a similar type of place, a very similar type of place.
“Where depending on what shakes [out], I could be fighting for the belt or I fight somebody [in the] top five and then get a belt.”
The tall and rangy Page will present Garry – who is still coming to terms with idol Conor McGregor‘s withdrawal from the card – with the toughest puzzle of his so-far flawless career.
Page has a brilliant knack of frustrating his opponents with his height, elusiveness and strikes from distance, something Garry has yet to encounter.
“I don’t try to look into details of it too much, ” Page said when asked about his physical advantages. “Just being against me is awkward enough.
“I don’t need any extra advantages as my style is a massive advantage.
“The way that I fight, the way that I move, my timing, kicks, punches, the unorthodox angles – all of those things are hell for a lot of people.
“So there are small extra advantages here and there, but It’s not something that I’m gonna look at.”
The booking of Garry versus Page was well received by fans on account of their name value and respective striking styles.
He’s gonna end up trying to drag me to the ground, hold me, or hold on for dear life just to not be embarrassed on his feet
Michael 'Venom' Page on his UFC 303 clash with Ian Garry
But if Page has his way, he’ll turn the striking-heavy Garry into a wrestler before putting away.
He said: “For me, I always see myself as a superior striker, regardless of who I’m standing across the way from.
“So with that said, in this one, I just feel like the same stuff is going to happen. He’s going to be confident.
“And I’ve said this many, many times against many and many opponents.
“He’s gonna feel confident about himself for the first couple of minutes – if that.
“Until he’s like, ‘This not working, he is way too fast. I am not seeing these shots, I need to go to Plan Z.’
“Because a lot of strikers don’t want to do that. They can do, they’re capable of doing it.
“You have to as an MMA fighter, you have to learn how to do everything.
“They’re gonna have to, you know, grapple and wrestle.
“But they’re gonna now make that their Plan A.
“And I think that’s exactly what he’s gonna he’s gonna end up wanting to do.
“He’s gonna end up trying to drag me to the ground, hold me, or hold on for dear life just to not be embarrassed on his feet.”
Michael ‘Venom’ Page takes on Ian Machado Garry at UFC® 303: PEREIRA vs PROCHAZKA on June 29th on TNT Sports 1. TNT Sports is available through its streaming destination discovery+ and across all major TV platforms. See here for more information.