Page Calls WEC Return Against Wineland ‘Dangerous’

The matchup was initially confirmed by MMAJunkie.com on Thursday. Bout agreements have been issued for the bantamweight contest to be held at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

"It's a good dangerous fight," Page said. "I've been out for a while; it's kind of like rolling the dice. The reason why they're (the WEC) doing this is they want to get me back in the mix. Personally, I think it's going to be a dogfight."

Page appeared to be on the cusp of title contention after a victory over Will Campuzano at WEC 43 in October 2009. A torn labrum coupled with a partially torn rotator cuff suffered in that bout has slowed the Jackson's MMA product's ascent through the division.

"About 60 percent of the cartilage was missing in my shoulder," he said.

Originally scheduled to return at the WEC's first pay-per-view event against Antonio Banuelos in April, Page experienced yet another setback with the shoulder and had to withdraw from that bout.

"It felt like it was getting better -- then I heard it pop a little bit," he said. "I had to go back and get another surgery done. What was going on, what the pop was, one of the anchors broke loose. I had a bunch of scar tissue so they had to clean it all up. After that it started feeling better. It was a long process, just a long time out."

Page, who also owns victories over Marcos Galvao and Scott Jorgensen during his WEC tenure, said the troublesome shoulder is not yet 100 percent, but "it's getting there." He has been training at full speed in Albuquerque, N.M., for approximately three weeks.

Wineland owns a three-fight winning streak in the WEC and has been victorious in five of his last six bouts overall. He has defeated Manny Tapia, George Roop and Campuzano during that time. Eight of the Indiana native's 17 career victories have been by knockout or technical knockout.

For Page, a return to the cage brings a sense of relief.

"It feels really good to take everyday life, put it in a little ball and take it out in practice. It's my therapy and it feels good," he said.

The not-yet-completed WEC 52 card is headlined by Urijah Faber vs. Takeya Mizugaki and also features a bantamweight bout between Brian Bowles and Wagnney Fabiano.