Michael 'Venom' Page after boxing debut win: Who's Paul Daley?

Bellator welterweight and newly minted professional boxer Michael Page is over Paul Daley like a bad breakup.

Asked about Daley (40-15-2 MMA, 6-2 BMMA) following a third-round knockout of Jonathan Castano in his professional boxing debut at light heavyweight, “Venom” Page (12-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) put on a very obvious act trying to pretend he didn’t know his rival.

“I don’t know who that is,” the undefeated Bellator MMA fighter told MMAjunkie backstage at the event, promoted by former boxing champ David Haye. “I’ve never heard of his name. I don’t even know who you’re talking about right now. Probably some random garbage fighter that has a big mouth.”

Apparently, Page is no longer interested in ending the bad blood. The two have all but completed a promotional reel for an eventual fight, nearly coming to blows outside the cage in May after Daley was submitted by Rory MacDonald at Bellator 179. Prior to rebounding with an upset over Lorenz Larkin, Daley scoffed at Page’s ambitions in the squared circle and said he would stay in the cage long enough to have the last word.

“The whole boxing thing is just propaganda,” Daley said. “The guy is just trying to buy his time. It’s a smart move. He just wants the big fight, which is me for the U.K. market and the world market. This boxing thing is just him treading water rather than take the risk of go in against other top contenders, strong wrestlers or strong ground guys. He’s just waiting for the big fight against another stand-up guy.”

Page counters that he’s tried to make the fight happen.

Today on “The MMA Hour,” he said Daley is the one who’s dodged a meeting on multiple occasions. Now, the only way he’ll accept is if Daley agrees to a winner-take-all fight, which likely means Bellator won’t book it.

So Page doesn’t want to hear anymore about Daley. He’s instead focused on a return to the cage, which he said could take place Dec. 15 at Bellator 191 in Newcastle.

“I’m completely fine, no injuries,” Daley said after his boxing win. “I’m not going to make any decisions on the fight, because I don’t anyway. If Bellator is excited for me to be in Newcastle, they’re going to be speaking to the right people on my team.

“They probably have spoken already, and when I get in the gym, we sit down and talk next best move. I’m an employee, and I do what I’m told. This is where they want me; I go there and do that. They gave me the opportunity to do this, and I’m massively thankful. I should go and pay them back, knock someone out in MMA.”

Page also aims to get another boxing match in by year’s end and eventually move to the super middleweight division, where the 168-pound limit is better suited to his MMA frame. He said it’s going to take time to see him in a 12-round fight, a la UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor’s lucrative crossover with Floyd Mayweather. But eventually he’d be ready.

In the meantime, the flashy style that’s made him an MMA star won’t be changing at all. Although the rules and conditioning might be different, Page said his way of fighting makes him a threat in any combat sport.

“I’m a combat specialist,” Page said. “I think my style suits multiple (styles of) combat. If you ask me to go to the Olympics and do some taekwondo, I’ll tell you what, I can do it.”

But if it’s against Daley, the answer is appparently no – for now.

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