Michael 'Venom' Page will consider himself the top Bellator welterweight should he beat Logan Storley in London next month, despite losing out on a fight with current champion Yaroslav Amosov.
Page was due to square off with the undefeated Ukrainian for the gold, but due to the ongoing war in his home country, Amosov has been forced out of action. However, the promotion have pushed forward with the May 13 event, slotting wrestler Logan Storley in to replace him in an interim title fight at the OVO Arena Wembley.
And Page insists that he is unfazed by the change of opponent, considering Storley to be one of the best 170lb fighters in the world. He told Mirror Fighting that he will consider himself the champion, although he is happy to rearrange a date with Amosov whenever he is in a safe position to do so.
"All of my opponents, in my head, are the best in the world," Page explained. "I say that so that I don't walk in there expecting one thing or the other. I never expect someone to be any less than the best.
"Because I'm about to fight him, I think he's the best welterweight on the planet and I need to prove myself. As far as what's in my head, he has the ability to do absolutely everything, whether it's true or not, that's what I'm going with.
"We've been watching videos and we know what is most likely which is wrestling because he's so good in that area, but outside of that he's the best thing since sliced bread.
"I see myself at the top, regardless of circumstances I was able to attend and fight on May 13 and if I win I will see myself as the top. Obviously when Amosov comes back, he will be the one who gets to fight me if you know what I mean. We'll fight to clarify which one of us stays at the top."
For Storley, the opportunity came at just the right time. He just defeated Neiman Gracie in February, and wanted a quick turnaround prior to hearing of the champion's situation in Ukraine.
"I think it was the Monday after my fight when the first strike on Ukraine was landed," he said. "I got a call two weeks later asking if I was ready to fight and so that was it, it was very quick.
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"For me, I've got to show up and compete and perform for whatever it is, an interim belt or whatever, you're fighting for a world title so it doesn't matter. This puts you in the place to do whatever you want where you get to control your own destiny after the fight. That's the biggest thing for me.
"It all happened so fast and this thing is serious [with Amosov in Ukraine]. I knew I had to stay ready because I thought that there was going to be maybe a chance of fighting someone else on the card.
"I didn't know what MVP would do, but I thought maybe Douglas Lima or if Jason Jackson couldn't get over there I knew there would be a chance. In all my interviews after my last fight I was asked what I wanted next and I said a title.
"I thought Gracie would have got a title shot if he had beat me like I beat him, so that's what I wanted and it's where my head was at and now we've got the title shot."
Tickets for Bellator 281 MVP vs Storley are on sale now, and are available to purchase via both axs.com/uk and BELLATOR.com
