UFC welterweight contender Michael Page has explained why he’s not a big fan of trash talkers such as Colby Covington.
‘MVP’ is the newest signing to the promotion, as his free agency came to a close over the weekend. Dana White himself made the announcement following the UFC 296 main event, featuring Colby Covington. In that bout, ‘Chaos’ suffered a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Leon Edwards.
In the build to the fight, the former interim champion got extremely personal with ‘Rocky’. He mocked the champion’s deceased father, who was murdered when Edwards was a child. While some were okay with the trash talk, others, such as Dana White publically stated that they were unhappy with it. It’s safe to say Michael Page isn’t a fan either.
The former Bellator welterweight title challenger spoke about the situation during a recent interview on The MMA Hour. There, Michael Page took aim at names such as Colby Covington, for their aggressive trash-talking. In his eyes, light banter and trash talk are fine, but invoking fighters’ families is where it goes too far.
Furthermore, Michael Page stated that he hopes fighters can become more like mixed-martial artists. While the former Bellator standout likes to taunt a fair bit in the cage, he seemingly believes that outside of it is a place for respect. Colby Covington evidently still disagrees, and has continued to mock Edward’s deceased father.
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Image via: @michaelvenompage on Instagram
Michael Chandler takes aim at Colby Covington following UFC 296 loss
“What I’ve been seeing in combat sports thus far, I hate.” Michael Page stated during a recent interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, taking aim at figures such as Colby Covington. “I don’t like it, I don’t like people talking about people’s fathers, people’s wives, people’s girlfriends, people’s kids. All of that stuff. We need to go back to martial artists, mixed martial arts. Everyone seems to have lost themselves a bit.”
He continued, “I have zero respect for people that feel the need to go there. We’re skillful athletes, and that should be enough. I’m more for the banter, I’m more for the jokes and keeping it kind of friendly. That should be enough to build a fight. And again, we can keep the intensity, but it should stay between me and the person I’m fighting. That’s it.”
As of now, Michael Page’s UFC debut is slated for next March, against Kevin Holland. Meanwhile, Colby Covington is currently unbooked, fresh off his loss to Leon Edwards over the weekend. However, ‘Chaos’ has shown interest in booking a fight with Stephen Thompson since his UFC 296 defeat. ‘Wonderboy’ competed on the same card, losing to Shavkat Rakhmonov by submission.
What do you make of these comments from Michael Page? Do you agree with ‘MVP’? Or are you a fan of the style of trash-talking from figures such as former UFC interim champion Colby Covington?
