Michael ‘Venom’ Page appears to have made a grave mistake when he decided to fight Shara Magomedov, which he says was a spur-of-the-moment decision. The pair fought back in February 2025, when Page secured a unanimous decision victory, bouncing back from his first UFC loss to Ian Machado Garry in June last year. How was that a mistake? 

Well, because of what the UFC has been doing to him since that fight. Michael Page, of course, faced Jared Cannonier in August, producing another UD win, but it appears now he is stuck there—at middleweight. In a recent podcast, Page revealed how the UFC has forced him to stay at the weight class despite his repeated pleas to move down.

Michael ‘Venom’ Page feels something’s going on

“My likely next fight is going to be in the UK because they’re coming to London, as they always do for March, like the 21st of March,” Page told James and Fuhad on the ShxtsnGigs Podcast. While he understands that UFC is banking on Page’s popularity in the UK, he revealed that the promotion still doesn’t have an opponent for him. 

When Page revealed his intentions to move back down to welterweight for a fight, the UFC told him, “Nobody’s available.” However, when he asked for a middleweight fight instead to stay busy, “They give me another middleweight fight,” Page said. When he went back to the UFC, asking for a welterweight fight yet again, so he could come down, the response bamboozled him. 

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“[They told me] nobody’s available,” Page said, adding, “How can nobody be available?… This guy… There was a fight the other day… He just won a fight spectacularly. Message him. That’s a great fight for me in London. [UFC told me], ‘Oh, we’ve got plans for him.’” Page could not wrap his head around the repeated excuses from UFC. 

“The bread just stepped out of the cage. I’m already out for months, and you don’t have plans for me, but you have plans for him,” Page told James and Fuhad on the podcast. This made zero sense to him, who started thinking that something was going on behind the scenes. “In my head, like something’s going on. I don’t know what it is, but weirdly enough, it timed.”

Despite all this, Michael Page claims to have stayed composed. And luckily for him, things played out the right way. 

Road House 2 saved Page from inactivity

Further in the podcast, Page explained what helped him stay composed as the UFC continued to deny him a fight at welterweight. “I always know other things will come, and Road House came,” Page added during the podcast. Notably, Page is among the cast of other notable names from the MMA world, including Tyron Woodley. 

The movie, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, is a sequel to 2024’s Road House, which featured Conor McGregor. Page claimed his role required him to remain busy till December. “If I had a fight, it’d have been hard to do both of those things anyway. And then it allows me to have the time between January and March to prep… and be ready for action,” he added.

Page appears to have been training profusely for the role, so much so that he earned praise from his co-star/former promotional mate, Tyron Woodley. “I’m doing [Road House 2] right now, so a lot of us are training and getting ready for fight scenes,” Woodley told BettingLouge before his recent fight against Anderson Silva. 

“There are a lot of martial artists around, and specifically Michael ‘Venom’ Page, who is a perfect replica to train with to get ready for Anderson.” While Woodley ended up losing the fight, his statement highlights how dedicated Page was to his role in Road House 2. 

This sounds a lot like a movie’s plot on its own. Why would the UFC want to keep Michael ‘Venom’ Page in the middleweight division? What do you make of Page’s predicament?