Michael Page Signs Three-Fight Misfits Deal Worth More Than His Entire UFC Run
MVP's Misfits Boxing contract reportedly pays twice as much as his entire UFC career, per MMA Mania.
Michael "Venom" Page just got paid, and the UFC is not going to like the optics.
Page has signed a three-fight deal with Misfits Boxing that reportedly pays him twice as much as his entire UFC run, per MMA Mania. The announcement came during a Misfits event in London on Saturday, just weeks after the UFC chose not to re-sign him following a unanimous decision win over Nursulton Ruziboev at UFC Paris in September.
Page went 5-1 inside the octagon, with his only loss a close fight against Ian Machado Garry. When asked about the decision not to bring him back, Dana White said the matchmakers "make the decisions on who stays and who goes" and that they "didn't want to re-sign him," per Heavy.com.
The timing is brutal for the UFC. Fighter pay has dominated headlines in recent weeks, with middleweight champion Sean Strickland publicly threatening to walk if his financial demands aren't met. Page himself had been vocal about the issue, telling The Ariel Helwani Show he was frustrated by the gap between UFC revenue and fighter compensation.
"I hate hearing stories of fighters getting to the pinnacle of your career in terms of the UFC and still being broke," Page said earlier this year.
No opponent or debut date has been announced for Page's first Misfits fight. He is 39 years old and one of the flashiest strikers in combat sports history. Misfits clearly saw the value the UFC didn't.
This is embarrassing for the UFC, full stop. You let a 5-1 fighter walk, and within weeks he signs a deal that pays him double what you paid him over his entire run? That is not a good look when your middleweight champion is already on TV saying he'll leave.
I've watched MVP fight live here in Vegas. The guy puts on a show. He's flashy, he's entertaining, and he moves tickets. Misfits is smart for this. They're getting a legitimate combat sports name with crossover appeal, and they're paying him what the market says he's worth.
The broader fighter pay conversation is not going away. Between Strickland's holdout and now this, the UFC is giving fighters a real-time case study in what happens when you look elsewhere. The walls are closing in on the old model.
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