Last Saturday, Michael ‘Venom’ Page’s final fight under his UFC contract ended on an unceremonious note in Paris. The 39-year-old cruised to a decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev, but his performance failed to deliver the excitement the crowd and promotion wanted. Following his rather lackluster outing, it appeared the UFC might ultimately decide against renewing his contract, and Dana White has now confirmed it.

At the latest Contender Series press conference, the UFC CEO addressed MVP’s disappearance from the middleweight rankings, clarifying that the company isn’t interested in re-signing the former Bellator star.

“That was the last fight on his contract,” Dana White said. “I don’t think we’re signing him, no. What’s the confusion? I think it’s been pretty clear that he wasn’t being re-signed and that he would be taken out of the rankings because he’s not on the roster.”

Despite the reporter pressing Dana White with multiple questions, the UFC head honcho didn’t reveal the reason behind the promotion’s decision not to re-sign the No. 8-ranked middleweight. However, even before White confirmed that Michael Page would no longer be part of the UFC, there were already signs that the promotion wasn’t satisfied with how his performance against Ruziboev turned out, or his earlier fights, for that matter.

Known for his flashy, knockout-reel style of fighting that made him famous during his Bellator days, ‘Venom’ landed only 12 significant strikes from 28 attempts against Ruziboev during 15 minutes of cage time. The UFC Paris crowd loudly booed the Englishman who tried to showboat against his opponent without throwing enough volume. Although he won the bout by unanimous decision, ‘MVP’ was denied a post-fight speech, further suggesting that everything wasn’t quite right.

The reaction was enough for Page to suspect he was being let go by the promotion. During his backstage interview, the 26-3 fighter admitted that he made a mistake by not pushing the pace against his opponent. He also expressed hope that the UFC would re-sign him and even promised to tweak his fighting style to bring the excitement back. However, his words weren’t enough to convince the UFC brass, who subsequently removed him from the middleweight rankings in the latest update yesterday.

CFFC general manager and UFC media rankings panelist John Morgan revealed Monday night that panel members received an internal email from the UFC notifying them that Page was no longer eligible to be included in the rankings.

The signs of a strained relationship between Page and the UFC, however, may have started well before his final fight in Paris. Dana White had previously criticized his UFC London fight against Sam Patterson, calling it “a bad fight.” The Englishman had also been vocal about his displeasure with the UFC’s ever-controversial fighter pay structure.

While there doesn’t appear to be any major internal rift between Page and the UFC over his views on fighter pay, the relationship between the two sides had already shown some signs of tension.

Still, despite the questions surrounding the lack of excitement in his performances, ‘MVP’ leaves the promotion with an impressive 5-1 record. Along the way, he defeated seasoned fighters like Kevin Holland and Jared Cannonier, while suffering a razor-close decision loss to Ian Machado Garry.

That makes his UFC exit somewhat surprising, particularly given his record and the level of competition he faced. However, this isn’t the first time the UFC has decided against re-signing a fighter coming off an impressive run.

Earlier this year in May, the promotion decided not to re-sign bantamweight Daniel Marcos despite the Peruvian racking up an impressive 5-1 record in the UFC, much like Page’s. After his departure, Marcos subsequently signed with the PFL.

Another notable example came when the UFC released the No. 5-ranked bantamweight Ketlen Vieira in May. While she eventually joined PFL to face champion Cris Cyborg at PFL Tampa, the departure was nevertheless surprising.

It shows that neither the record nor the rankings matter when it comes to the UFC keeping a fighter on their roster. This should also explain the UFC’s decision not to re-sign Michael ‘Venom’ Page despite being the No. 8-ranked middleweight.

With his UFC chapter now seemingly coming to an end, the 39-year-old’s future could lie outside the promotion, and he has already received an offer from Conor McGregor’s promotion.  

David Feldman welcomes Michael ‘Venom’ Page to BKFC   

After the UFC’s decision not to re-sign Michael ‘Venom’ Page became public, Conor McGregor’s business partner and BKFC founder David Feldman, sensing the opportunity, expressed his openness to signing the Englishman.

Feldman stated that, according to him, it would be difficult for the UFC veteran to deliver boring performances in bare-knuckle fighting, as the nature of the sport would force him to adopt a far more aggressive approach.

“I don’t know if his contract is actually terminated,” Feldman told Bloody Elbow. “That’s a pretty fast time to get his contract terminated, so I don’t wanna make any moves on him yet, and say that’s what we want. We would definitely welcome ‘MVP’. When he fought for us with Mike Perry, it was a pretty exciting match, and a lot of people actually thought he won that fight.

“You can’t really be boring in BKFC, so it’s hard for him to fight that type of fight in BKFC. Would we be interested? Yes. I think BKFC will force excitement out of ‘MVP’, and I think that the fans would love that.”

As Feldman pointed out, Michael Page fought in BKFC back in 2022 against the promotion’s premier star, Mike Perry. While MVP lost the encounter via majority decision, the fight was highly competitive and has since been regarded as a classic in the promotion’s history. Given that history, BKFC could certainly make a move for the Brit if he wants to return to bare-knuckle fighting.

Alternatively, PFL could also look to sign Page, especially as the promotion continues to strengthen its roster following its partnership with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotion, ironically also called MVP.

Whatever the future holds for Michael ‘Venom’ Page, a UFC return doesn’t appear to be on the cards anytime soon—unless Dana White changes his stance and becomes interested in bringing him back.