TLDR
- Michael Page will fight unranked Sam Patterson at UFC London on March 21, despite requesting higher-ranked opponents
- Page feels he’s not in good favor with UFC, saying ‘it just feels like I’ve upset somebody’
- The fighter has been asking for a fight since his August 2025 win over Jared Cannonier
- Page questions his positioning on the UFC London card and believes the matchup is odd
- He speculates his lack of finishes in the UFC may be working against him
Sources: BJ Penn | Sherdog | ESPN MMA
Michael Page believes he may have fallen out of favor with UFC leadership after learning about his next fight booking. The veteran striker will face unranked Sam Patterson at UFC London on March 21 at the O2 Arena.
Page has been vocal about wanting a fight since his victory over Jared Cannonier in August 2025. Instead of the ranked opponent he requested, he was matched with Patterson, who doesn’t appear in the welterweight rankings.
Fighter Questions His Treatment
“I definitely don’t feel like I’m in good favor with the UFC at the moment,” Page told MMA Junkie. “It just feels like I’ve upset somebody.”
Michael 'Venom' Page isn't sure where he stands with the UFC
📰 https://t.co/EgUtDdZ1ka pic.twitter.com/iZ2OwNx6Wl
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 12, 2026
The matchup confused Page for multiple reasons. Patterson is not only unranked but also someone Page has trained with before, making the fight feel even stranger to him.
“It’s a bit more annoying for me because it’s not just an opponent that feels a bit further down the ladder; he’s also somebody that I’ve worked with before, so I know him well,” Page explained. “It’s another reason why I didn’t really want to have this fight, but more so because I came here for the big fights.”
Page said he has been actively pursuing top opponents since his last outing. “Since my last fight, I’ve been asking for absolutely everybody,” he said. “It seems like nobody is willing to take the fight or they’re already matched or whatever.”
Card Positioning Adds to Concerns
Beyond the opponent selection, Page expressed frustration with his placement on the UFC London card. The event will be headlined by Lerone Murphy, but Page feels his position doesn’t match his profile.
“You look at the whole card in general, it’s not the most exciting,” Page said. “And I would have felt like a name like myself being on that card, I’m definitely going to be positioned as someone who is going to go and show out always, but I’m being positioned on the card in a weird way.”
Page acknowledged Murphy deserves his main event spot. “Lerone Murphy massively deserves his position. He’s been on an absolute killing spree,” he said.
The fighter offered one possible explanation for his situation. “The only thing I could really suggest is that I haven’t had a finish,” Page said. “So maybe they’ve looked to purchase somebody that is known for spectacular finishes, and I haven’t quite achieved that yet.”
Page holds a 3-1 record in the UFC. His wins came against Sharabutdin Magomedov, Kevin Holland, and Jared Cannonier.
His only loss came against Ian Machado Garry in a competitive bout. Garry is now positioned as a potential number one contender for the UFC welterweight championship.
Page competed at middleweight for his last two fights against Magomedov and Cannonier. For the Patterson bout, he will return to welterweight, his primary division.
Despite his reservations about the matchup, Page ultimately accepted the fight. “I just wanted to fight. I don’t really want to wait, so it was like, ‘Let’s just do it,'” he said.
Page had previously held a title challenger position in Bellator before signing with the UFC. The UFC London event is scheduled for March 21, 2026.
