CHICAGO – Cameras aren’t huddling around Michael Page in the days before Bellator 221.
That’s a big relief for “Venom.”
Page has a high-wattage personality and can handle the attention. But these days, he’d rather be in the background.
“The Paul Daley thing was what it was, but there was a lot more going around for me at the time,” he told MMA Junkie. “So it was just an accumulation of a lot of stuff.”
A lackluster decision victory over his rival at Bellator 216 was the result.
But Page is now getting back on his feet and feeling a lot more like himself after his father’s death in January.
Thankfully, heated rivals Michael Chandler and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to the spotlight, so “Venom” can focus solely on ex-champ Douglas Lima in the semifinals of the Bellator’s ongoing welterweight grand prix on Saturday night.
In February, it was hard to stay on task. A grudge match with Paul Daley needed tending, and he couldn’t shake a lack of energy in training.
“The acceptance of it takes a while,” said Page, who co-headlines Saturday’s DAZN-streamed card at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. “It’s that denial period of it actually being real. You’re hoping every day to wake up and just be like, oh, it’s a bad dream. What the hell is that about? So it’s more of the acceptance which makes it slightly easier.
“But it’s just a different phase of the emotional journey. It does make it easier on this side of what I have to do.”
Page’s mission is to spread the gospel of “freestyle kickboxing,” the flashy brand of striking that’s invited praise and criticism from MMA fans. He’d certainly like to win the tournament and the welterweight title. But the bigger goal is to defeat opponents with big names.
No one could claim what he does isn’t effective if he beat Lima or champ Rory MacDonald.
“If there was no prize money at the end, just beating these people is enough for me,” he said.
Oddsmakers have him an underdog for the first time in his life heading into the fight with Lima, an opponent with far more high-level MMA experience. Page expected that to be the case and isn’t offended. He plans to prove everyone wrong.
As for where he ends up in the tournament, Page hopes to be standing across from MacDonald, who faces Neiman Gracie in his bracket.
“Beating somebody with his credibility and his name means more than a Gracie, because (Gracie) only been here a short time,” Page said. “(Gracie is) an up-and-comer. I’d prefer to take that scalp than the opposite one.”
To hear more from Page, check out the video above.
For more on Bellator 221, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
