The UFC purchased the Pride Fighting Championship for about $70 million on March 27, 2007, and since then has been the unquestioned top promoter in mixed martial arts. There have been other promotions which had individual fighters who were better than those in the UFC -- Strikeforce, most notably, had a slew of elite talent -- but the difference in every promotion compared to the UFC since Pride went away has been the UFC's monumental edge in depth across all of the divisions.
There has been much discussion in the MMA media over the last six or so months comparing the top talents in each division. And while it could be argued, for instance, that Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen is the best 185-pound fighter in mixed martial arts, what cannot be argued is that no promoter -- Not Bellator, not PFL nor any regional promoter -- has anywhere near the kind of depth the UFC does at 185.
That is true in every division.
And that's where the UFC's latest free agent signee, welterweight Michael "Venom" Page, enters the picture. The UFC signed Page away from Bellator in December, and on Saturday at UFC 299 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla., Page will square off in his UFC debut with 13th-ranked welterweight Kevin Holland in a bout that has Fight of the Night written all over it.
Three of the top 13 ranked UFC welterweights will be in action on Saturday, four if you concede Page would be ranked had he had a UFC fight. No. 4 Gilbert Burns will take on Nov. 11 Jack Della Maddalena in addition to the Holland-Page fight.
Page and Holland would each probably slot into that 3-to-5 range if they were in Bellator, and would be serious title contenders.
In the UFC, Holland is a depth player who puts on highly entertaining fights if he's matched properly. And while Page said his goal is to move up to win the title, he's 36 and he'll need a lot of significant wins in a short period of time to get there.
The higher level of competition can clearly make it harder, but it also can have another effect which Page hopes is true. He'll clearly be forced to raise his game in the UFC, even though Bellator had several elite welterweights like Jason Jackson, Yaroslav Amosov and Logan Storley on its roster.
He is, though, clearly thrilled with his new surroundings and what it might do for him.
"It's a new experience," he said of being in the UFC. "But I embrace new experiences. I always say I love being a student and learning new things, so that's how I feel. This experience, I'm just soaking it all in and come Saturday, I get to release that, all of that energy."
Page said he'd long been a UFC fan and had imagined himself in the Octagon many times before. But even though he's switched promotions and is fighting for the company he once dreamed about joining, nothing has changed in terms of his outlook.
His run in Bellator was highly successful, but he suffered two losses that set him back.
His first loss came at Bellator 221 on May 13, 2019, in the semifinals of Bellator's welterweight grand prix. He was knocked out early in the second round by Douglas Lima after opening his career by winning 14 consecutive bouts.
He reeled off six consecutive wins after losing to Lima, and landed a bout with Storley on May 13, 2022, for the interim welterweight belt. Storley, though, claimed a split decision victory in London.
So Page will start over in the UFC, though by fighting a ranked fighter like Holland, he'll bolster his case for a Top 10 ranking with a win. But even though he's 36 and the end of his career is closer than the finish, he carries the same goal into the UFC that he had while going 17-2 in Bellator.
"I don't do things just to make up numbers," Page said when asked about his goals in the UFC. "We're here for the belt. I'm here to get that bling. Getting to the top is key, which is why I wanted to start with someone the likes of Kevin Holland. It needed to be that type of challenge.
"I don't have time to try to build myself up, and I don't need to. A conversation I had with the UFC, they were equally in agreement of that and they've shown their intentions by giving me Kevin Holland first."
And Page is fairly certain that the Holland fight will win over the crowd and get people talking. Holland is not only a great striker, but he's a big talker and quite the showman. So, too, is Page.
"I feel like we're going to have the first live, in-cage podcast of me and him talking during the fight," Page said, laughing. "It's such a great fight for so many different reasons. He loves to strike. I love to strike. He's got the entertainment factor and he likes to talk. I like to kick people in the face. It just works."