Michael “Venom” Page has his sights set on big things as a UFC fighter. The longtime Bellator MMA star silenced doubters by defeating Kevin Holland in his promotional debut at UFC 299. Next up is a potential home game against the welterweight elite.
MVP dazzled fans and frustrated Holland over three rounds with his elusiveness and accurate counterstrikes. Page absorbed a mere 30 significant strikes across 15 minutes of action, according to UFC Stats. He is itching for a quick turnaround after defeating Holland via unanimous decision. The English fighter says there are discussions about him getting a home date at the rumored UFC Fight Night card in Manchester.
“I’m completely fine. Everyone always has a few knocks and bruises but nothing crazy at all,” Page told CBS Sports on Thursday. “There are talks of me coming back for the U.K. The show is in Manchester. That’s July, I believe. I think that’s plenty of time for me to come back. Obviously, I have to figure out an opponent and so on. I’m still away on holidays. I need to get back and speak to my coaches properly.
“We have to navigate what we think and speak to the UFC. There’s a big process that goes into it. But if I could get on July, come out relatively unscathed again and jump in again in September, that would be a very happy year for me.”
Check out the full interview with Michael Page below.
UFC president Dana White told reporters at the UFC 299 post-fight press conference that it was important to matchmake Page against opponents who mesh with his wide, elusive stance. MVP already poured cold water on a dream match with karate specialist Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, claiming their similar styles likely produce a boring fight.
“The likes of Ian Garry would be a fun fight I guess. Stylistically, the likeliness is it’s going to be quite explosive on the feet,” Page said. “[Vicente] Luque is another good fight. He’s a very explosive guy. A very powerful guy on his feet as well. That’s a good fight.”
Jack Della Maddalena scored an impressive come-from-behind knockout win against Gilbert Burns at UFC 299. Della Maddalena (No. 5) and Page (No. 13) might be a tad far in the UFC’s official welterweight rankings, but the Australian fighter certainly fits the stylistic bill.
“I’ve seen him before but I was very, very impressed with how he dealt with such an amazing fighter in Gilbert Burns,” Page said. “The scrambles he did. There were a couple of things I felt Gilbert did wrong. He made a few silly mistakes. But [Della Maddalena] looked so good. He seems like a hard person to kill in all positions. He’s definitely a dangerous opponent. Another exciting fight.”
Alexandre Pantjoja will defend his UFC flyweight title on home soil. Pantoja returns to his hometown of Rio de Janeiro against Steve Erceg at UFC 301 on May 4.
Pantoja vs. Erceg was announced by the UFC on Friday. The champ heads back to Brazil after making his first successful title defense against Brandon Royval in December. Pantoja defeated Brandon Moreno via split decision to capture the title in a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 290 in July last year.
Ercerg is a surprising choice to fight for the title. The Australian fighter is becoming something of a cult favorite among the dedicated fanbase. Erceg made a splash in his UFC debut by defeating David Dvorak, a fighter ranked in the UFC’s official flyweight Top 15, on short notice. He subsequently beat Alessandro Costa before knocking out Matt Schnell at a UFC Fight Night two weeks ago. Erceg is currently ranked No. 10 in the division, leapfrogging higher-ranked fighters coming off wins like Royval (No. 1), Amir Albazi (No. 3) and Muhammad Mokaev (No. 7).
— UFC (@ufc) March 15, 2024 No main event has been announced for UFC 301. UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira revealed that he was in talks to fight Jamahal Hill on the card before the fight was booked to headline UFC 300. Pereira has expressed interest in making a three-week turnaround and headlining the home game if he beats Hill without sustaining serious damage.
Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura are looking for a change in fortunes. The UFC Apex cage is going to look tiny when these two heavyweights duke it out at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Tuivasa (15-6) needs a win badly. The Aussie fighter is currently experiencing the second three-fight losing streak of his professional career. His most recent rough stretch came against some of the division’s best — Ciryl Gane, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov — all via stoppage. Tuivasa finds some comfort in knowing he’s fighting the heavyweight elite, but his motivation to beat Tybura is quite simple.
“F—, I don’t want to lose,” Tuivasa told CBS Sports. “No one likes being the loser. Obviously, my last three opponents have been no slouches so that’s kind of a good thing. In my last fight [against Volkov], I think I could have come out on top. There were just a few things that didn’t go my way. That’s just it. I need to get my get back this weekend. That’s how it works. You win, you lose, but you need to get back up and dust yourself off.”
Tybura (24-8) has been one of the more underrated heavyweights for a while. Tybura entered his last fight having quietly amassed a great 7-1 run against the low and middle ends of the UFC heavyweight scale. It only took 73 seconds for Tom Aspinall to crush his momentum. There is no shame in losing to the man who would soon after become interim heavyweight champion, but Tybura finds little comfort in that.
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“I felt really good before that fight. I was in the best shape. Everything was on point in camp. The loss was very tough for me,” Tybura told CBS Sports. “Of course, it brings a little sweetness that he’s interim champion right now. But there weren’t many things I could change for this camp.
“I took a couple of weeks off the gym to rebuild my hunger for this because this loss killed a bit of my attitude. I had to rebuild it.”
The rest of the undercard fills out with five more matchups. The co-main event sees a welterweight showdown between rising prospect Bryan Battle and veteran Ange Loosa. A pair of veterans are set to square off in the light heavyweight division when Kennedy Nzechukwu takes on Ovince Saint Preux. Elsewhere, Isaac Dulgarian and Christian Rodriguez are set to battle in the featherweight division. The only matchup with ranked fighters is set to take place in the women’s bantamweight division when Macy Chiasson takes on Pannie Kianzad. And more veterans open the main card when middleweights Gerald Meerschaert takes on Bryan Barberena.
Below is the rest of the fight card for Saturday with the latest odds before we get to a prediction and pick on the main event.
Prediction Tai Tuivasa vs. Marcin Tybura: The betting lines have this fight at a near pick ’em for good reason. Tuivasa is on a terrible stretch but has faced tougher opposition than his next opponent. Tybura is more well-rounded but has suffered five KOs in eight losses as he prepares for a legitimate KO artist. This fight should play out in the spirit of striker vs. grappler. Tuivasa has a live-by-the-sword, die-by-the-sword attitude with 18 stoppages in 20 fights. He’s notched KOs in 13 of his 14 wins. Tybura must take down Tuivasa. Tybura averages 1.39 takedowns per 15 minutes against a fighter who has never landed a takedown in seven years in the UFC. We haven’t seen Tuivasa’s takedown defense tested much lately, but it’s concerning that Derrick Lewis, who basically never wrestles, got him down twice in their fight. I think Tybura is one of the more under-appreciated fighters in the division. He did seem to turn a corner ahead of the Aspinall fight. It’s easy to forgive that performance knowing just how good Aspinall is. Unfortunately, I don’t think Tybura has enough offensive threats or defensive soundness to stop Tuivasa from landing that one big bomb. Tuivasa via KO2
Fan favorite Tai Tuivasa will attempt to snap a three-fight losing streak on Saturday against Marcin Tybura in a UFC Fight Night main event that features heavyweight contenders vying to get back on track. Their five-round battle anchors the main card starting at 7 p.m. ET from the Apex facility in Las Vegas. The No .9-ranked Tuivasa once appeared on the brink of a title shot, but has suffered three consecutive setbacks against world-class opponents. Now, he desperately needs a victory in order to remain in the top 10 of the UFC rankings. If the surging Tybura prevails, he will be the one who rebounds from a recent defeat and climbs towards title-shot consideration.
Tuivasa is a -125 favorite (risk $125 to win $100), while Tybura is offered at +105 in the latest UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura odds. In the co-main event, Bryan Battle (-175) meets Ange Loosa (+145) in a matchup of welterweight prospects. Before locking in your picks for UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura, make sure you check out the MMA predictions and betting advice from SportsLine combat expert Daniel Vithlani.
From breaking down film and following fighters and their camps closely, to tracking sharp action and betting market signals, Vithlani covers the breadth of the MMA betting landscape top to bottom. He also trains amateur boxers and speaks regularly with MMA fighters to understand the sport’s nuances.
Vithlani made his SportsLine debut last January of last year and swept the main card for UFC 283 with a 5-0 record and has been a consistent winner ever since. At UFC 292 last August, he called the upset for underdog Sean O’Malley (+210) against Aljamain Sterling (-250) in the bantamweight championship main event. Anyone who has followed Vithlani already has seen massive returns.
Now, with UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura on deck, Vithlani has studied the card from top to bottom and released his top selections. You can only see those picks at SportsLine.
UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura preview Although Tuivasa (14-6) and Tybura (24-8) have differing fighting styles, their trajectory in the UFC has some common ground because both at one point appeared headed toward journeyman status before embarking on runs that put them in the top-15 rankings.
Tuivasa has now had two separate three-fight losing streaks in the UFC, a rarity for any fighter who still finds himself in the top-10 rankings. He arrived in 2017 as part of a crop of young heavyweight prospects who were paired against each other early in their tenures.
The 30-year-old Australian fighter won his first three fights but followed those wins with a three-fight losing streak that threatened to jeopardize his roster spot. Instead, he won five consecutive fights by knockout inside of two rounds to soar to No. 3 in the rankings.
In the process, Tuivasa became a beloved figure among MMA fans because of his knockout power, gregarious nature and colorful celebrations that include drinking a full beer out of a shoe. Even so, he has now been stopped in three straight outings, including a second-round submission to Alexander Volkov in September.
Tybura is an eight-year UFC veteran who endured a stretch in which he lost four of five and likely needed a win in order to avoid looking for work in other promotions. However, similar to Tuivasa, Tybura then ripped off a five-fight winning streak to crack the top-15 rankings and shed the label of limited journeyman.
Even so, he has also struggled against elite competition and put up nearly zero resistance against Aspinall, who stopped him at 1:13 of the first round. The winner of Saturday’s main event gets new life as a potential title challenger in a division that has seen limited movement of late largely because of the inactivity from champion Jon Jones. You can only see who to pick at UFC Fight Night here.
UFC Fight Night predictions We’ll share one of Vithlani’s UFC Fight Night selections here: He is taking Kennedy Nzechukwu (-530) to get the better of Ovince St. Preux (+360) in a light heavyweight showdown on the main card.
Long considered a prospect worth watching, the power punching Nzechukwu (12-4) has started to deliver on his promise behind a stretch that has seen him win three of his past four, with all the wins coming by finish. However, the 31-year-old Dallas resident is looking to bounce back from a stoppage loss to fellow rising prospect Dustin Jacoby last August.
St. Preux is an 11-year UFC veteran and one-time title challenger who competed with Jon Jones better than many observers expected when they met for the vacant belt in April 2016. But the 40-year-old Florida native, who is known for his awkward style, appears to be in the twilight of his career. He has dropped three of his past four fights.
“Nzechukwu has a massive frame and likes to utilize his strong clinch game to land knees and elbows. Unless St. Preux can somehow end up in a dominant grappling position, he is likely going to get knocked out and retire,” Vithlani told SportsLine. See who else to back here.
How to make UFC Fight Night picks Vithlani has strong picks for Tuivasa vs. Tybura and other bouts on the UFC Fight Night card. He’s also backing a fighter who “has a powerful right hand and kickboxing combinations” to emerge with a dominant victory. Those picks are only available at SportsLine.
Who wins UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura, and how exactly does each fight end? Visit SportsLine now to get detailed picks on UFC Fight Night, all from the MMA expert who profited more than $6,200, and find out.
UFC Fight Night odds, fight card See full UFC Fight Night picks, predictions, best bets here.
Marcin Tybura (+105) vs. Tai Tuivasa (-125) Bryan Battle (-175) vs. Ange Loosa (+145) Kennedy Nzechukwu (-530) vs. Ovince St. Preux (+360) Macy Chiasson (-210) vs. Pannie Kianzad (+170) Gerald Meerschaert (-245) vs. Bryan Barbarena (+200) Christian Rodriguez (+160) vs. Isaac Dulgarian (-190) Mike Davis (-305) vs. Natan Levy (+245) Thiago Moises (-340) vs. Mitch Ramirez (+285) Josh Culibao (-190) vs. Danny Silva (+160) Cory McKenna (-125) vs. Jacqueline Amorim (+105) Charalampos Grigoriou (-165) vs. Chad Anheliger (+140)
Jose Aldo isn’t done with the UFC quite yet. Aldo will end his two-year mixed martial arts retirement in a homecoming fight at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro on May 4.
Aldo, 37, will take on rising contender Jonathan Martinez, 29, in a bantamweight scrap. The news was first reported by Ag Fight and later confirmed by ESPN. It will be Aldo’s first MMA fight since losing to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 279 in August 2022. The fight snapped a three-fight winning streak Aldo had built over other bantamweight contenders like Marlon Vera and Rob Font.
The inaugural UFC featherweight champion and former WEC featherweight champ retired from MMA in September 2022 following the birth of his son. The UFC permitted Aldo to compete in other combat sports. He boxed three times in 2023 — twice professionally and one exhibition bout — winning two of them and drawing fellow UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens.
Aldo (31-8) is one of three names in rotation as the greatest featherweight in MMA history along with Alexander Volkanvoski and Max Holloway. He’s shared the cage with both Volkanovski and Holloway, as well as Conor McGregor, Frankie Edgar and Urijah Faber. Aldo will compete in his 40th pro MMA fight at UFC 301.
Martinez enters the matchup on a six-fight win streak with victories over the likes of Adrian Yanez, Said Nurmagomedov, Cub Swanson and Vince Morales.
Marcin Tybura weathered a storm on Saturday night. He has the wounds to prove it. Tybura endured an early flurry from Tai Tuivasa at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas before shutting him down and putting him to sleep.
Tuivasa drew blood early with a flurry of elbows and punches in the clinch. Tybura, sporting a cut on his forehead, frantically pursued the takedown and found it soon after. It was downhill from there for Tuivasa. The Australian fighter looked like a bobblehead eating punch after punch from his back. Tybura patiently sunk in a choke and eventually put Tuivasa to sleep.
Wasted no time once it got to the ground 😮💨@MarcinTybura gets the submission victory in round one! #UFCVegas88 pic.twitter.com/uT2cNU1gcp
— UFC (@ufc) March 17, 2024 The quick stoppage is sure to boost Tybura’s morale. The Polish heavyweight admittedly struggled with motivation after losing to Tom Aspinall in 63 seconds last July. Tybura has strung together a credible 8-2 run with the losses coming to Aspinall, who since became interim UFC heavyweight champion, and Alexander Volkov, who is ranked No. 6 by the promotion.
“I feel awesome because I think it was an exciting fight,” Tybura said in a backstage video captured by the UFC. “Many things happened in this one and I got a win over a very strong opponent.”
Tuivasa (14-7) is on a career-worst four-fight skid, but the Tybura loss is arguably a step down from his prior losses. Tuivasa has been stopped by Tybura, Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich and Ciryl Gane in the last 18 months.
