Michael 'Venom' Page's UFC Exit: A Controversial Decision
Michael “Venom” Page’s brief, sharp run in the UFC is over, and the fallout is anything but quiet.
Five wins in six fights. The only loss to Ian Machado Garry, a man who just went strike for strike with Islam Makhachev, the pound‑for‑pound No.1. On paper, that’s not the profile of a fighter you cut loose. Yet that’s exactly what the UFC has done, letting Page walk into free agency after his contract expired.
The decision has rattled fighters, fans and now one of the sport’s biggest voices: Israel Adesanya.
A winning record, a cold exit
Page arrived from Bellator with hype, highlight-reel credentials and a reputation as one of the most awkward puzzles in MMA. In the UFC, he didn’t sink. He didn’t even stumble much. He won.
Five victories from six, capped by another win at UFC Paris in the final bout of his deal. The performance was solid, the result clear. The spectacle? That’s where the whispers started.
Page didn’t produce the chaos many expected. No viral knockout. No wild finish. For the matchmakers, that seems to have been the breaking point. When the time came to put a new deal on the table, nothing arrived. No contract. No extension. Just silence – and then the news that he was out.
For a fighter of his résumé, it felt ruthless.
Adesanya: “They got it wrong”
Israel Adesanya didn’t bother hiding his frustration. For him, the Page decision cuts to the heart of how the UFC does its business.
“It’s unfortunate. They cut Michael ‘Venom’ Page, and they don’t cut [Tai Tuivasa]… The UFC is a different business. They, the brass themselves, go on a case-by-case basis. They’re human beings, man,” Adesanya said, pointing straight at the inconsistency he sees in the promotion’s choices.
Tuivasa, a fan favourite and heavyweight brawler, is riding an eight-fight losing streak yet remains on the roster. Page, with one UFC loss to a top contender, is gone. The contrast is stark, and Adesanya didn’t shy away from it.
“With Michael ‘Venom’ Page, I feel like they got it wrong on that one because he only lost to Ian Garry, who just went toe-to-toe with the pound-for-pound number one, Islam.”
That’s the crux of his argument: Page has been effective, if not electric, and his lone setback came against elite opposition.
“A hard man to kill”
Adesanya also zeroed in on why Page can be such a difficult sell to those who crave chaos on demand. He knows the dynamic well from his own career.
“Michael is just a hard man to kill,” he said. “And everyone that fights him – I know this because I’ve done this to people – I’m not the same style as Michael. But I’ve been in fights where I just know this guy just doesn’t want to attack me. This guy is just waiting. He’s waiting for me to come to him.”
That’s the Page dilemma. His style forces opponents into hesitation. They wait. They stare. They try not to make the first mistake. The fight becomes a tense, tactical standoff instead of a brawl.
“But I’m touching the guy. I’m peppering the guy, and I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m hitting you. You’ve got to come to me.’ But they just want a freebie, and this is not a freebie.”
In other words, Page’s fights can look flat not because he’s unwilling to engage, but because his opponents refuse to take the risks that make him dangerous.
Investment, expectations, and entertainment
Adesanya understands why the UFC expected fireworks. Page arrived as a “big investment from Bellator,” as he put it. The pay was strong, the marketing push real. With that comes pressure to deliver not just wins, but moments.
“You have to let people cook, give them time,” Adesanya said. “Like, Michael, yeah, I understand he was a big investment from Bellator. He’s getting paid well. And he’s delivering, I think, ’cause he’s winning. But maybe they weren’t seeing what they were seeing in Bellator, and they were hoping for that kind of excitement… I find it exciting.”
To Adesanya, Page did his part where it matters most: he won fights. To the UFC, it seems the lack of spectacular finishes and viral clips outweighed the value of those victories.
That’s the tension at the core of modern MMA. Is winning enough, or do you have to set the arena on fire every time you walk out?
For Michael “Venom” Page, the UFC has given its answer. Now the question is which promotion steps up next – and whether they’ll give him the time and freedom to be the fighter Israel Adesanya insists he already is.
