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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun

Why Michael Bisping suggests Michael Page remain at middleweight after UFC Saudi Arabia

Michael Bisping thinks Michael Page is better suited for middleweight after UFC Fight Night 250.

Page handed Shara Magomedov his first-career loss in a unanimous decision win Saturday at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “MVP” told MMA Junkie prior to the fight that he planned on dropping back down to welterweight after the fight, and his stance remains the same.

However, Bisping argues that competing at 185 pounds could provide Page (23-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) better stylistic matchups.

“MVP, I would like to see him stay at 185 – but he told us at the post-fight show he wants to go back down to 170,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “He wants that (welterweight) belt. He feels he’s still got work to do, and I question that because there’s a lot of wrestlers at 170 pounds.

“Of course, you’ve got Belal Muhammad, you’ve got Shavkat Rakhmonov that you’d think would definitely wrestle MVP if he was to fight him. There’s Kamaru Usman and many, many others.”

“I’ve got a lot of respect for (Magomedov), but I’ve got to call it like I see it. MVP was by far the better man tonight,” Bisping said. “He was the better striker, he was in control, he was dominant and he was owning the octagon. More importantly, he was frustrating Shara ‘Bullet.’ Shara is a really good striker. He’s very aggressive and he’s got really fast kicks, but he’s kind of conventional.

“That is why MVP probably called him out because he’s seen that style a thousand times. MVP with the traditional sport karate background, with the hands low, with the precision striking, with the one-shot kind of power – MVP has seen that style many, many times, but Shara ‘Bullet’ hasn’t seen that style. And not many people who have that style can deliver it and execute it with the precision that Michael ‘Venom’ Page can.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 250.

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