After dipping his fists in the world of bareknuckle boxing, Michael Page is putting the gloves back on.
At Bellator 292 in San Jose, Calif., Page (20-2 MMA, 16-2 BMMA) will return against fellow welterweight contender Goiti Yamauchi (28-5 MMA, 14-4 BMMA), the promotion announced Wednesday as part of a full lineup reveal. The event takes place March 10 at SAP Center with the main card on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie.
Page, 35, returns to MMA after a one-off bareknuckle boxing loss to Mike Perry at BKFC 27 this past August. Bellator permitted Page to take the fight, and though he brought Perry to a tiebreaker round, he lost a majority decision. Prior to that, Page lost an interim title bout against Logan Storley by split decision, a controversial result in the eyes of some viewers.
Yamauchi, 30, comes into the bout off a scintillating knockout victory over Neiman Gracie at Bellator 284 in August. The victory extended his winning streak to three, all finishes.
With the addition, the full Bellator 292 lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)
- Champion Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Benson Henderson – grand prix quarterfinal for lightweight title
- Tofiq Musayev vs. Alexander Shabliy – lightweight grand prix quarterfinal
- Valentin Moldavsky vs. Linton Vassell
- Michael Page vs. Goiti Yamauchi
PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 7 p.m. ET)
- James Gallagher vs. Leandro Higo
- Enrique Barzola vs. Erik Perez
- Bruna Ellen vs. Keri Taylor Melendez
- Cass Bell vs. Josh Hill
- Islam Mamedov vs. Shamil Nikaev
- Tony Johnson vs. Khalid Murtazaliev
- Julius Anglickas vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov
- Alberto Garcia vs. Bobby Seronio III
- Laird Anderson vs. Rogelio Luna
- Wladmir Gouvea vs. Sean Tucker
- Theo Haig vs. Adam Wamsley
- Demetri Georgiades vs. Dupree Stewart
I know Bellator does poor ratings historically but I don’t know how a single MMA fan on the planet would want to miss that main card.
It is probably one of the top 20 Bellator main cards ever put on paper. Maybe top 10.
Bout Time
Goiti’s last few opponents
Page loves ex 55er, another one to his list
MAKE MVP VS RAMON DANIELS ALTEADY BELLATOR
Yamauchi I assume will try to take mvp down quickly…? I really don’t care to watch mvp fight more grapplers as we know how it will go . The Storley match was awful
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA — Michael “Venom” Page is ready to rebound.
2022 was a rough year for the man often referred to as “MVP,” suffering defeats in both MMA and his bare-knuckle boxing debut. This weekend (Fri., March 10, 2023) at Bellator 292 in the SAP Center, Page (20-2) looks to get back to his typical winning ways by halting the momentum of submission ace Goiti Yamauchi.
Page, 35, has often been criticized by fans throughout his career for getting special treatment or favorable matchups from Bellator. Currently in the thick of contention at welterweight as the No. 2-ranked fighter, it’s hard to continue arguing that’s Page’s case.
“I think people like to jump on bandwagons,” Page told MMA Mania of past fan critiques. “Once something’s been said and there’s something that keeps on coming up, people will jump on that and it’s usually a lot of uneducated people in the sport. They watch the sport, but only the key players shall I say.
“I still get a lot of fans going, ‘Oh, you do UFC don’t you?’ I think it’s a lot of lack of education, which makes it easier to then jump on whatever bandwagon is being represented. To be fair, it doesn’t really bother me. I’ve enjoyed my journey thus far and I’m still enjoying my journey as I go along. I love combat, which is why I do so much random stuff, boxing, bare-knuckle. I’ll try it all. I’m just living my best life.”
Facing talented grapplers is nothing new for Page ahead of his bout with Yamauchi. The Japanese jiu-jitsu wizard Yamauchi has, however, added some impressive new striking elements to his game, extending his current winning streak to three in Aug. 2022 with a knockout of Neiman Gracie.
Regardless of Yamauchi’s striking improvements, Page expects his foe to be no match on the feet, leading to the ground specialist seeking his natural area of comfort.
“His last fight is not really a representation of him, in my opinion,” Page said. “Simply because they’re both high-level jiu-jitsu fighters and a lot of the time, you might get two wrestlers or two jiu-jitsu guys, and they opt out of going into that space. If we want to figure out who’s the better jiu-jitsu guy, we’ll just go and do a jiu-jitsu competition instead of trying to figure that out [in a fight].
“I think he’s gonna stick to his game cause that’s what he’s best at. He’s gonna try his best to figure out a way to get to me and pull me down into his world, and that’s pretty much gonna be it.
Fuck yeah
There is a Bellator in Temecula later this month which is awesome. But it’s probably the weakest card they’ve put on in a while. Glad they are returning though
Correct / anybody going ?
Not that I know of
Even the undercard is great.
Bellator 292 is set to go down tomorrow night (Fri., March 10, 2023) inside SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., which will kickoff the Lightweight World Grand Prix tournament. In the main event of the evening, division king, Usman Nurmagomedov, will face longtime veteran, Benson Henderson. In the co-main event and first quarterfinal matchup of the tournament, Alexander Shabliy will face Tofiq Musayev. The early weigh-ins will take place today (Thurs., March 9, 2023) at 12 p.m. ET and a ceremonial event — with staredowns, etc. — will be streamed at 3 p.m. ET in the video player above.
Does Benson deserve to be in this tourney? I have not paid much attention to him the past few years.
Any other fighters that should have taken his place?