Exclusive | ‘Don’t pursue mixed martial arts for fame or money’: MMA veteran Michael 'Venom' Page

Did you know that mixed martial arts, a full-contact combat sport which incorporates techniques from a number of different martial arts is growing steadily in India? In fact, India has a governing body for the sports – MMA India, as well as regional associations. There was also an open MMA championship organised by the MMA Association of Maharashtra in September last year, complete with a private sponsor. Cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai have become major MMA training hubs.

Most MMA athletes target a spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC. The UFC was initiated in 1993 as a professional MMA platform. It went on to revolutionise the mixed martial arts and overall fight industry and today, according to some metrics, is the world’s largest pay-per-view event provider.

Over the years, Indian MMA fighters like Bharat Kandare, Anshul Jubli and Puja Tomar have signed up with the UFC.

While UFC’s popularity is the highest in the US, other regions like Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia are not very far behind.

So, what does it really take to become a successful MMA fighter? Can someone who is not naturally endowed with a large physique also make it in the MMA world and what are some of the things that are absolutely imperative for an athlete to have in order to be a successful mixed martial artist?

British professional mixed martial artist Michael “Venom” Page, who has been a professional MMA athlete since 2012 and signed up with the UFC last year, spoke exclusively with Firstpost to provide the answers to these questions and more and to help us understand how the world of MMA works.

Michael, who won a silver medal at the 2010 World Combat Games in Beijing and has an overall MMA win-loss record of 22-3, with 13 wins via technical knock-out, will square-up against Sharaputdin Magomedov of Russia in his next UFC bout on February 1.

Excerpts…

Firstpost: Your style of fighting is often called explosive and credit for that is given to your style of freestyle kickboxing and also the fact that you hold a black belt in Kung Fu — in your mind how do you bring these different martial arts styles together to form your own unique style?

Michael “Venom” Page: It comes from a place called freestyle kickboxing or sports karate. It’s a style that already exists and I add my spin on it, my creativity on it. The coaches taught me how to make it safe and effective in MMA.

FP: Your parents have both been Kung Fu practitioners, you have siblings who are kick-boxing champions. Tell us what your childhood was like, growing up in this environment of martial arts

MP: Martial arts were a great anchor to have that keeps me on the right road, because it’s not just the punching and kicking that you learn, but also discipline, focus, perseverance, so many different things. Also, social aspects of things you learn from martial arts. And obviously having your family around doing the same thing helped massively. So, for me that kept me on the right path. I wasn’t always raised in the best areas and it helped me to say no to my friends who were doing the wrong things and kept me focused on the right things.

FP: How tough is it, overall, in terms of hard work and dedication to become an MMA athlete, considering you have to master varying martial arts, styles, techniques etc?

MP: Yes, it’s very difficult. I always say to people that you need to love this sport. Don’t do it for fame, don’t do it for money, you have to love it, because it’s very tough. The only way you are going to get to the top is by a lot of sacrifice and a lot of pain unfortunately, because you (have to) put your body though a washing machine of injuries and loads of (other) stuff. And then again because of the dedication to it, you have to miss out on a lot of social things that you may want to attend. It can be quite lonely sometimes, so you have to love the sport and be passionate about the sport to really want to do it.

FP: A lot of people have this misguided perception that martial arts is all about physicality and expending energy. The fact that there is a very large meditational side to it is not a very well-known fact — that one of the key elements of martial arts is relaxing the mind and training it to focus more and more. Your take on that….

MP: Yes, that’s massively important, I think. Everything is yin and yang. You can’t have one thing without the other. This is why there are a lot of athletes who are very good and exceptional in the gym, but they go to the stage, their mind struggles to allow them to perform in the same way they do in the gym. So, you have to learn how to train your mind equally and focus your mind equally, as much as training your body.

FP: Your next fight is on Feb 1 against Sharaputdin Magomedov of Russia whose main martial art proficiency is in Muay Thai. How are you approaching this bout?

MP: My style is very awkward. Although I have got a specific style, it’s very unique, which means that it’s going to be hard for him to figure out or have people to train against or learn to train (to fight) against me, so for me it’s about going out there and being the best (version of) me, being effective, being fast, being precise and then the result will come.

FP: As someone who has been a professional MMA athlete since 2012, if you had to list three things which are absolutely essential for someone to succeed in MMA, what would they be?

MP: Firstly fitness. I have seen people who are super talented, but they are not fit enough to keep up with some others. Everybody is tough in this sport, so it’s not about training your toughness, everybody is tough, it’s about being fit. Fitter than the other person, so cardio is king – it’s something we like to say in our gym and we really work hard on being as fit as possible. That’s one technical element.

Then really learning the importance of the moves. Sometimes the smallest of things, especially in the grappling area, the smallest of details can make such a big difference during a fight. And then as we spoke about earlier – the mindset. Make sure you have the correct mindset. That you are not doing it for the wrong reasons, you are in there, you are focused, you stay focused from start to finish of that fight. Those are the three things that are the most important.

FP: Can an athlete who is not endowed with a naturally strong physique make it as an MMA athlete, if he or she puts in the hard yards?

MP: Anybody has the capability. If you are wanting to do it and you can find the right people to teach you, willing to put the effort in, find the right team that can support you, then 100 per cent you can do it. Nobody starts off as very strong. Sometimes when I look at some of my old videos of myself and I see how skinny I was back then and how slim I was back then. I came from the kickboxing world, where the style was very different, I didn’t need to be big and strong (there). But now you see my body has developed over the years, because of all the work that I have put in so, all you have to do is start. If you really love this and you really want to do it, all you have to do is start. And then the journey starts from there.

FP: How big is MMA in the UK right now and how much have you seen the fan following and overall MMA culture change/develop in the UK in the last decade or so?

MP: It’s growing massively. When I started, MMA was getting bigger, but it still wasn’t something that people, especially in this country – they were very pro-boxing, but not necessarily for MMA. The likes of Ronda Rousey (American mixed martial artist) brought big attention to it. The likes of Conor McGregor (Irish mixed martial artist) brought even more attention to it. And then we had all of our champions like Michael Bisping (British mixed martial artist) that made it all the more believable for the fans in the UK.

And then there were guys like myself also carrying the flag and showing people that this is a path they can do (walk on) and that it’s an enjoyable path. So there have been a lot of people and (fans) from when I started till now have increased. It is going from strength to strength in the UK. They love it over here (in the UK) now.

FP: Which one has been the toughest fight of your UFC career, so far and why?

MP: The toughest fight was definitely my last fight (vs Ian Machado Garry of Ireland). It was frustrating, I wasn’t making the right decisions during the fight, so it was more frustrating (than anything), it wasn’t tough, but it was just frustrating mentally, because I wasn’t making the correct decisions, so the fight didn’t go my way. But I still believe that I haven’t had any tough fights, as of now, so, we will see.

Watch UFC Fight Night - Adesanya vs Imavov on 1st February, 2025 at 10:30 PM IST LIVE on the Sony Sports Network.