Michael ‘Venom’ Page gives update on UFC future as final fight of contract approaches

Michael ‘Venom’ Page insists his preference is to sign a new contract with the UFC and snub interest from elsewhere.

Page’s latest contest in UFC Paris against Nursulton Ruziboev on September 5 will be the final fight remaining on his contract.

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After making a switch to Dana White‘s promotion in 2024, Page began a title assault at 170lbs but was beaten by Ian Machado Garry.

He then moved to the middleweight division and is currently on a three-fight winning streak, with decision victories over Jarod Cannonier and Shara Magomedov.

But after a win over Sam Patterson, Page was hoping for a shot against one of the division’s elite having been ranked in eighth.

However, he will face Ruziboev who is ranked seven places beneath him in 15th at middleweight.

The Briton has expressed his frustration at recent matchmaking and card position, which has led to doubts over his long-term future with the UFC.

With Jake Paul‘s new-look promotion merging with PFL, questions were asked if Page could explore a move elsewhere.

Although in an exclusive chat with talkSPORT.com, the Briton insisted he hopes to renew his deal, as opposed to seeking a new adventure.

He explained when asked if he wants to be with the UFC: “Yeah. The plan is to go ahead and sign a new deal and continue.

“Every fight is a fight. You have to kind of re-establish yourself, improve yourself, and I want to just remind them who they have in amongst the UFC roster.

“I want to go out there and put on a show but also remind them of the reason that they signed me with a finish.

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“Then I want to sit back down with them and say ‘where are we going from here?’.

“I want to continue, but my goal is the title. I don’t want to have just random fights here and there for the sake of making up a show, and I am a person that is purposeful.

“Like I need, I need a specific goal. I need drive to to wake me up in the morning.

“So I need them to give me that, and then just allow me to to go out and try to try to achieve it.”

Michael Venom Page wants path to the top of 185lbs

Moving forward for Page, he is keen to get another win under his belt and have a clear path mapped out to the top of the division.

The title is currently held by American star Sean Strickland, who is out of action but could then rematch Khamzat Chimaev when fit again.

talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankings

talkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.

Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.

UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Tom Aspinall and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Arman Tsarukyan miss out.

Page could face an extended wait for a shot at UFC gold, but if he re-signs, wants to know that a path is in place to challenge.

He continued: “No, that’s the thing. They they haven’t [plotted me a path to title].

“Kevin Holland first, you know, big fighter, somebody that is very reputable, super experienced, and then we just went on from there.

“So I felt like it was okay. Yes, it’s a good thing. I feel like after the Shara Magomedov fight, things started to slow down.

“That was a very opportunistic fight for me. I got the fight, won the fight, and it felt like I don’t know something shifted from from there.

“In my opinion, in terms of again, thereafter getting fights was was very difficult. The Cannonier fight, I don’t even think Cannonier was happy to even take the fight, and it’s just been not the best of matchmaking there since.

“So again, I’m hoping to reconnect with them after this fight, and then map out a proper path again, so we’re aligned and we move forward from there.”