Michael Venom Page reveals UFC regret ahead of return - 'It's disappointing'

Michael 'Venom' Page believes he has fallen short of that 'wow factor,' as the UFC star opens up about his main regret since joining the top promotion.

The 39-year-old will take on Nursulton Ruziboev later this evening in a middleweight contest over in Paris. It's been a rather up-and-down UFC career for the British MMA icon. 'Venom' was snapped up by the promotion two years ago and entered the UFC with a strong reputation, having built a large following during his Bellator days.

His elite-level striking and awkward style made him an absolute joy to watch, but for some reason, it has not quite worked out yet in the UFC. The tricky striker - despite his glowing reputation - has not been rewarded with high-profile fights since joining the organisation and has had to say yes to any challenge in a bid to stay active.

Once again, the Brit finds himself fighting down on Saturday night. In five UFC fights so far, 'Venom' Page has only lost once - a razor-thin decision loss to Ian Machado Garry back in 2024. But he has since picked up impressive wins over Sharabutdin Magomedov and Jared Cannonier.

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When asked if there's any disappointment with the way his UFC career has gone, 'Venom' Page revealed to Mirror Fighting: "Yeah, it's definitely disappointing. It is a lot more difficult when you do not understand how you have gotten to this place because you do not know what you can change. All I know I can affect is the results of my fights, and I guess it is not because of the hype that I had coming in with regards to my style of you know how I finish fights.

"I feel like that is the only thing that I have fallen short of. Although most of my fights have been entertaining, I feel like I have fallen short of that wow factor that I was known for. So, all I can do is try to improve that, and it is difficult. Obviously, we are in a game where guys are super talented. We are at the highest division, so it is never going to be a home run all the time. But you know, it's still important to make sure I still get the wins, and in which I've done for the majority of the time, I only lost one, and but now I've tried to really up the level and make some memorable moments in the UFC."

An entertainer whenever he steps foot inside the cage, Page believes that maybe his lack of finishes have ended up costing him dearly. "Yeah, I guess potentially you can have regrets in retrospect," he explained. "With fights, you can learn from them. Everything else you cannot really control. The main side of it would be to have a bit more output in some of my fights so that would be really trying to go for the win by being a bit more bloodthirsty.

"I love to entertain. It is part of me. Currently, we do not necessarily seem to be getting that side. That could be when I drop somebody instead of letting them back up, going in. But again, there is a lot of people that do enjoy the the kind of antics that I have in the in the Octagon as well. That is the only thing that I could try to improve on."

While many would assume tonight represents the perfect opportunity for Page to make a statement, the British brawler refutes such claims and is merely trying to 're-establish' himself. "We are in a very unforgiving sport, as much as it has done for me, you have to be aware of that. So, I guess every single fight you're putting yourself in, you're in that scenario of proving yourself and then reproving yourself and then reproving yourself again," he explained.

"So that is always on. I do not believe that this fight means any more than the last one or the next ones after that. Every single time you step in there, you are trying to re-establish yourself again. Unfortunately, like other sports where you can depend on maybe if you've got a team, there's other players that you can depend on if your if your performance is dropping, or there is a lot more match time, regular match time for you to for people to kind of forget about the last one, last bad performance.

"Whereas in our sport, it's just you, and then it's a lot longer in between bouts for you to kind of make a statement again, but yeah, every single time you get in there, my goal is to reestablish myself and go. Remember who I am. Remember who I am. Remember what I can do. So that is the same thing every fight."