Did Michael ‘Venom’ Page show signs of weakness in lacklustre Daley win?

Fireworks were promised in last night’s welterweight contest between Britons Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Paul Daley. As it turned out, however, Bellator 216’s main event was largely a damp squib.

The undefeated Page and veteran kickboxer Daley had certainly talked the talk in the lead up to the fight. ‘Semtex’ had threatened to derail the hype train that MVP has become, while Page, for his part, spoke of delivering another highlight reel knockout to his opponent.

Hyped main event starts with a whimper

However, you would be forgiven for forgetting the ferocious trash talk by the time the closing bell of one round sounded, with each fighter spending the opening five minutes stalling, seemingly afraid to engage and – despite what they would have had you believe pre-fight – clearly respecting each other’s knockout power.

Daley circling. Page stalking. No one throwing through one minute. #Bellator216

— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) February 17, 2019

Bellator had drawn considerable cricitism for staging the contest, which promised to be one of the greatest all-UK main events ever, away from the fighters’ home turf. Instead, the promotion will have been glad they chose to put the event on in the relative obscurity of Uncasville, Connecticut.

Daley finds surprising wrestling success

With the 40-17-2 Daley having little success in finding his range early on, the 35-year-old turned to Plan B. In a surprising move, considering the Nottingham fighter has been frequently critical of ‘lay and pray’ practitioners, ‘Semtex’ opted to use his own wrestling game in an attempt to swing the bout back in his favour. And, to his credit, he found some success with the strategy, outworking and outpointing Page in the middle stages of the five-round headliner.

OMG as bad as Page is at grappling, Daley might be worse! 🤯

— Ben Askren (@Benaskren) February 17, 2019

The 31-year-old and his management have long been accused of ducking opponents that represent any credible threat to the Londoner’s now 14-0 record. And, seeing Page offer very little resistance to Daley’s own admittedly limited ground game early on will do little to silence those critics.

MVP finds a way to win

To his credit, MVP managed to turn the tide in his favour in the championship rounds, with Daley’s takedown attempts becoming increasingly more laboured as Page showed occasional glimpses of his flashly brilliance, outpointing his opponent. The fifth and final round proved to be the most critical, with the fight hanging in the balance. Daley looked to have controlled things early after landing another takedown, but ‘Venom’ was able to dig deep, reversing the position and going in search of a rear-naked choke in the latter stages.

Ultimately, Page’s fifth-round resilience and more proactive approach in the razor-thin first round were enough to earn him the nod on the night, with all three judges scoring the contest 48-47 in his favour.

Lacklustre showing raises more questions

Despite Page managing to stay undefeated, the main event was anything but the pinnacle of British MMA it was expected to be. The bout made for lacklustre viewing for even the most ardent fans of either fight – with Daley, in particular, putting up a disappointing showing after promising to take on talented striker Page on his feet.

Following the event, questions will inevitably be asked of Page’s ability to deal with an opponent with a more accomplished ground game, considering Daley’s success on top. The London Shootfighters product will soon get the chance to answer some of those questions when he takes on former two-time welterweight champion Douglas Lima in the next round of the 170lb tournament.