MIAMI – Michael Page felt a little off his game at UFC 299, but that did not prevent him from frustrating his opponent en route to a promotional debut victory.
Page is a showman, inside and out of the cage. From his WWE-themed entrance he said was toned down at the UFC’s request, to mid-fight taunts against Kevin Holland in his main card bout at Kaseya Center, it appeared “Venom” was as comfortable as ever. In reality, he may have been dealing with the infamous “octagon jitters” that some fighters experience in their UFC debut.
“It’s weird because from start to finish, I felt confident, but when I got in there – it wasn’t like I wasn’t confident, I was still feeling confident – but my body just wasn’t functioning in the way I wanted it to,” Page said at the post-fight news conference. “I don’t know what it was down to, but it’s the first one. I did what I needed to do to win.
