The final time Michael ‘Venom’ Web page contested an MMA combat at middleweight it was in Mumbai virtually 12 years in the past.
Web page, then 26, was showing in simply his fifth bout and was competing in India for the second time in 5 months.
The Englishman made quick work of his opponent, securing a first-round submission.
Web page, who has fought most of his profession as a welterweight, has good reminiscences of the journey and remembers how naive he was to the skilled world of MMA.
“I used to be nonetheless new to the game. I did not know what was good and unhealthy. You’ll be able to inform what’s organised or not, however you did not know if that was regular or not,” Web page mentioned.
“After we had been warming up for the combat, me and my opponent had been principally warming up in the identical room, which is bizarre.”
Quick ahead to 1 February 2025 and Web page is going through unbeaten UFC middleweight sensation Sharabutdin Magomedov in Saudi Arabia.
They won’t be anticipated to heat up in the identical room earlier than making their walks to the octagon.
“Shara has that [aura] round him however I can see in his means one thing I can exploit,” Web page mentioned.
“If I put the ‘MVP’ impact in entrance of him, it’d spoil all of that. There’s simply one thing I noticed there that made sense to me.”
At 15-0, seven years his junior and on the hunt for a title shot at 185lb, Magomedov is a frightening prospect for any middleweight, not to mention a fighter stepping up in weight.
