Michael Page won five of his six UFC fights, beat Nursulton Ruziboev on the cards at UFC Paris in September, and then watched the promotion let his contract expire. So when he says the sport has its incentives upside down, I’m inclined to listen. I’m also inclined to point at the ring he just walked into.
In comments shared by Ariel Helwani on X on Monday, Page laid it out plainly: “Specifically in the UFC, but MMA in general is probably the only sport where you could win and move backwards and lose and progress forward.” He added, “There’s no other sport that would happen in. It’s unfortunate.” His fix is to get back to figuring out who the most skilled fighter actually is, and to stop treating entertainment as the whole job.
He’s right about the first part. He’s on shakier ground with the second, and his own UFC run explains why.
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The numbers back him up
Look at what Page did inside the Octagon. Six fights, a 5-1 record, competing at both welterweight and middleweight. He told The Stomping Ground he was top-10 in two divisions, and MMA Fighting confirmed he was ranked in both. His one loss came against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 303 in June 2024, a decision, and Machado Garry has since challenged for the welterweight title. That’s a respectable L. Later, Page beat Sam Patterson at The O2 in London on March 21, 2026, then Ruziboev in Paris.
That run should be a ladder. In any league with standings, a guy ranked in two weight classes whose only loss came against a future title challenger gets a name opponent next. Page got free agency. MMA Fighting described the UFC as unable to wait to let him walk, and noted his signing had been treated almost as a throwaway, tucked into a Dana White post-event press conference. When the boss announces you like he’s reading out parking instructions, the writing was always on the wall, just in very small print.
“I was calling out everybody, wasn’t getting any feedback,” Page told The Stomping Ground. That’s the bit that stings. Fighters can live with a no. Silence is worse.
So yes, in a sport with rankings that are supposed to mean something, winning and then getting shown the exit is backwards. His word is the right one.
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The entertainment problem cuts both ways
Here’s where I part ways with him a little. MMA Fighting, in the same piece, said his UFC fights left a bit to be desired despite the wins. That matters, because the UFC sells fights, and too often Page fought in the Octagon like a man protecting a record. A 5-1 run built on careful decisions is still a 5-1 run. It just doesn’t make matchmakers sprint to the phone.
That’s the uncomfortable piece sitting under his complaint. The promotion he’s criticizing for chasing spectacle passed on him partly because his fights weren’t spectacular enough. If the UFC ran on pure merit, he’d have had a ranked opponent booked by now. If it ran on pure entertainment, a longtime Bellator standout with his profile would’ve been handed the kind of fights that make highlight packages. He fell into the gap between the two systems.
And then look where he landed. On October 10 at the Copper Box Arena in London, KSI stepped into the Misfits ring to announce Page on a multi-fight deal, and Page made an Undertaker-style, WWE-flavored entrance. His explanation for leaving centered on creative freedom. “I’m a very creative person,” he said, pointing to his walkouts, entrances and exits, which he said he “wasn’t allowed to do” in the UFC. “I feel free of the shackles.”
I don’t think that makes him a hypocrite. I think it makes him honest about two things at once. He wants to be judged on skill, and he wants to perform. Most great fighters want both. The UFC gave him less of either than he wanted.
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What he was actually owed
Page is 39. He’s been around long enough to have gone bare knuckle with Mike Perry at BKFC 27 in August 2022, a main event that needed an extra round and ended in a majority decision loss for him. He has taken the weird fights. He took the fights the UFC put in front of him, too, and he won almost all of them.
What he deserved was an answer. Book him against a ranked name who forces him to open up, and you learn something real about him while giving fans something worth watching. Merit and entertainment would’ve pointed at the exact same fight. The UFC let the clock run out instead.
Misfits hasn’t announced a debut date or an opponent yet. Whoever it is, Page will get his entrance. I just hope somebody across the ring makes him earn the exit.
