Billed as One of Bellator’s Potential Biggest Stars, it’s a Massive Moment in Michael ‘Venom’ Page’s Career… Is the Heat Getting to Him in Dublin as He Looks to Rebound Against Richard Kiely?
Michael ‘Venom’ Page is one of the slickest strikers on the Bellator roster. Long, lanky and languid, the Taekwondo blackbelt and former professional kickboxer has a whole host of acrobatic kicks in his armoury that he’s just waiting to unleash on his opponents. The problem is that this is MMA not kickboxing.
He found out the hardway against Douglas Lima that the sport is an unforgiving one. He was actually giving a decent account of himself against the Brazilian before getting brutally knocked out by one of the best fighters outside of the UFC today. When he came to, it was definitely a rude wake-up.
So after tasting defeat for the first time in his MMA career, he’s looking to rebound against Ireland’s Richard Kiely. The SBG Ireland man is a solid striker in his own right and looked to have Page rattled in Dublin at the face-off. The pair are set to fight in the Irish capital on September 27.
Disrespect
The shenanigans started when Page totally blanked Kiely by staying on his phone and playing with it. He didn’t look up once as Kiely waved his hand in front of MVP’s face. Understandably, the Irish fighter was just going to let it go and he took things further by stepping across in front of the Londoner.
That’s when Page finally looked up and he put his hand on Kiely’s shoulder. Kiely then shrugged it off and MVP gave him a two-handed shove backwards. Straight away security moved in and the two men were giving each other abuse. Coming from SBG Ireland, Kiely is well-trained in the art of verbal warfare.
Not Impressed
Kiely clearly was unimpressed with his British opponent, who is the favourite to win their fight. He told Page that he was ‘like a woman playing on his phone’ and then proceeded to tell his opponent to stay over there out of the way. It was well-played by the Irishman who knows that he can make a name for himself by beating the high-profile page.
With a record of 4-1, this is a massive moment for Kiely against the 14-1 Page. Bellator have signed a number of fighters from SBG Ireland, including the likes of Dillon Danis, James Gallagher, Charlie Ward and Peter Queally. They’re one of the strongest teams in Europe.
Turning Point
Meanwhile, for Page, this could be a defining moment in his career. Despite many seeing this fight as a set-up to get him back on a new winning streak, Kiely is not just going to give in and let him do it. He might possess unbelievable skills but the main question is how far they will take him against genuinely elite talent.
So far he’s struggled to get past a veteran Paul Daley and been knocked out by Douglas Lima. There are a lot of questions for MVP to answer.
