Bellator welterweight star [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] is confident, talented and has the ability to produce the sort of finishes few can manage inside the cage, yet it seems a lot of people like nothing more than throwing shade at the man known for donning shades after his knockout wins.
After his most recent performance, a quick-fire finish of short-notice replacement Giovanni Melillo at Bellator Europe 6, the critics and haters were out in force once again, despite a near-flawless display inside the cage. But are those critics missing the point?
In truth, Page found himself on a hiding to nothing this past weekend in London. He was defeated by now-welterweight champion Douglas Lima in the semifinals of the welterweight grand prix, then bounced back with a one-round toying of Irish striker Richard Kiely in September.
Page’s next test was supposed to be against Derek Anderson, a more seasoned, battle-tested campaigner who had never been stopped with strikes in his career. But after he was ruled out through injury, Bellator officials needed to scramble to find a short-notice replacement. The installation of unheralded Italian Melillo was greeted by shrugs and rolled eye emojis across social media. “Another can for MVP” seemed to be the overwhelming view of the Twittersphere.
It meant Page found himself in a no-win situation. Lined up against a largely unknown opponent, on just over a week’s notice, whom he was expected to put away convincingly, meant that nothing short of a highlight-reel knockout would suffice on fight night.
Luckily, highlight-reel KOs are MVP’s specialty, and he duly delivered, courtesy of a peach of an overhand right that put Melillo into airplane mode long before he hit the canvas. It took him a grand total of 107 seconds. Under the circumstances, there really wasn’t too much more Page could have done. Melillo barely laid a glove on him and, when he did look to launch some serious offense, Page countered the Italian’s kick with the sledgehammer shot that knocked him out.
Despite his punch-perfect performance, the critics were falling over themselves to bury MVP after the fight. Page’s longtime rival, Paul Daley, was in prime position to fire the loudest shots via the Bellator broadcast desk, but he’s angling for a return fight with a man who defeated him in their first meeting, so his stance was understandable. And, while Lima justifiably pointed out that he’d like to see MVP defeat a ranked opponent before granting him a shot at his title, he didn’t directly criticize the Brit or his performance. Many on the internet did, however, suggesting that Page goes out of his way to choose easy fights.
The narrative of Page as some sort of career-controlling can crusher seems a little lazy. If he wanted to simply cruise along by taking easy bouts, he wouldn’t have entered the welterweight grand prix, where a murderers’ row of 170 pounders couldn’t wait to get their hands on him. Likewise, why would he have pursued a rivalry with Daley, the most ferocious 170-pound striker on the Bellator roster? And why does he want to jump straight back in the cage with the only man to not just beat him, but knock him cold?
Page only wants gimme fights? No, that just doesn’t pass the smell test.
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The truth is MVP is a promoter’s dream and, just as Bellator has looked to slow-play some of its other talented fighters, they’re utilizing Page in a way that helps maximize his star power for the promotion. That’s why they slow-played him early in his Bellator career. That’s why they booked him to face popular, but comparatively inexperienced, Kiely in Dublin. And it’s why, when they lost Anderson from the main event slot in London just over a week ago, they didn’t just pull MVP from the card and bump the eagerly-anticipated middleweight grudge match between Fabian Edwards and Mike Shipman up to the main event slot. Bellator needed Page at the top of the card, regardless of the opponent. Not many stars can pull a crowd without a named opponent, but MVP is one of the few.
Page sells tickets, puts bums on seats (and couches) and, more often than not, he delivers fireworks. And I’d be willing to suggest that one of the people most disappointed at the lack of a named opponent for MVP in London was Page himself. Usually he’d relish the chance to step in front of the cameras after a win and make sure everyone knows his thoughts, so his uncharacteristic absence from the post-fight press conference might have hinted at a little personal frustration, too. Maybe even he knew he couldn’t get too vocal after defeating an unheralded opponent, even if it was via a one-shot KO.
Page had little choice in his opponent on Saturday night. And, once he stepped into the cage, he turned in a performance that few, if any, welterweights on the planet could have matched. Other top fighters might’ve beaten Melillo, but who else would have finished him in such a clean, spectacular, social media-friendly way? Given the cards Page was dealt, what else could he seriously have done? One option could have been to simply pull out of the event, but that would have let down the thousands of fans who bought tickets to watch him fight. And, for a showman like MVP, letting fans down isn’t part of the gameplan, so he fought on – and got criticized anyway.
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Make no mistake, Page doesn’t want to fight so-called “cans.” He chased Daley, threw himself into the welterweight grand prix and now wants to jump back into the cage with the man who starched him. They’re not the actions of a man who simply wants to take easy fights. Instead they’re the actions of a man who actually wants big fights. But Page is also a company man, and that has seen him take fights the Bellator brass wanted him to have as they look to build their brand in Europe.
If Page doesn’t take the Kiely fight in Dublin, or if he pulls out of the London show, does that help his chances of getting the big fights he actually wants? Of course not. So he took the fights and extracted the most he possibly could from them by producing a pair of highlight-reel finishes to show he’s a class above. But then the criticism comes his way anyway for facing lower-level opposition. In short, he’s damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.
Hopefully, after doing Bellator a solid in Dublin and again in London, he gets rewarded with a big fight next. He wants it, his fans want it and even his detractors want it.
And if you ask me, MVP vs Daley 2 in a London main event title eliminator next year makes a whole lot of sense.
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