Page plans to gauge his ‘value’ as MMA free agent

Michael “Venom” Page has been one of the most popular and recognizable fighters in Bellator MMA for nearly a decade. Now, he’s hitting the open market.

Page announced Monday on “The MMA Hour” that he is a free agent and will be exploring his options with other MMA promotions. Sources told ESPN that Page’s Paradigm Sports Management team has already had discussions about him with the UFC, Bellator and PFL. Page has not ruled out a return to Bellator. A Bellator official confirmed the veracity of Page’s contract status to ESPN.

“It just means I want to see what other people think of MVP, how other people value MVP and what I bring to the cage, what I bring to an arena, what I bring every time I turn up,” Page told journalist Ariel Helwani.

Page, an exciting striker with a background in kickboxing and karate, said he will be a guest at UFC London on Saturday. He said he is definitely considering the UFC as a potential destination.

“It’s definitely something that is going to be in the back of my mind,” Page said. “And it has been obviously from when I first even jumped into the sport. UFC was the main brand. There wasn’t really anything else about. So, that was always the goal, initially. Obviously, times change, loads of different shows now. But yeah, there’s some fights over there that would be great to have.”

Page (21-2) is coming off a 26-second TKO of Goiti Yamauchi in March. The England-born fighter lost an interim welterweight title fight against Logan Storley in May 2022. Page, 36, has the most knockout victories in Bellator history (11), including some of the best highlight-reel moments the promotion has produced.