Joe Rogan has long been high on the ability of Michael Page, and thinks the promotion put him and Sam Patterson in a position to fail at UFC Fight Night 270.
Page (25-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) earned a unanimous decision victory over recent training partner Patterson (14-3-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in the featured welterweight bout of Saturday’s card at The O2 in London, and the contest has received plenty of criticism for its lack of action.
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“MVP” and Patterson combined for just 39 significant strikes over 15 minutes of fighting, and Rogan said that should somewhat be expected given Page’s style and the familiarity his opponent had with it.
“It’s interesting that they didn’t think of this when they booked this fight,” Rogan said on his “Fight Companion” podcast on Saturday (H/T: MMAFighting.com). “They didn’t think, ‘These guys are training partners, this might be a stinker.’ Maybe it’s like, you can’t get anybody to fight ‘Venom’ Page in London? That might be a problem, too. It might have been a bunch of dudes said no, and Patterson was like, ‘Let’s go.'”
Rogan, like many, was disappointed in the underwhelming nature of Page vs. Patterson. UFC CEO Dana White was critical of the bout afterward, and Rogan echoed that prior as the fight played out.
“This might be the least action of any fight, ever, next to Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou,” Rogan said. “This is crazy bad. That’s a crazy bad fight. … That’s a crazy matchup. It’s literally the last guy you want to fight a style like that, someone who understands it. It’s the last thing you want! Don’t you want excitement? Don’t you want as real as it gets? Don’t you want, ‘Just Bleed?’
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“I bet it was one of the things where there’s not a lot of guys lining up to take that fight, because he makes you look so stupid. But this dude is like, ‘I’ve been in there with him 100 rounds, I know how to fight it.’ It’s a big advantage, man. Giant advantage. Knowing what that distance and speed is like.”
Ultimately, Rogan said it’s hard to get excited about Page’s future after seeing that fight play out. It remains to be seen what will be next for the 39-year-old Brit after such a performance.
“I think it’s bad for him,” Rogan said. “It’s not good. But also, here’s the problem: Now people know how to fight him. People are going to watch that and go, ‘Oh, just don’t engage. Make him engage.’”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joe Rogan critical of ‘crazy bad’ Michael Page win at UFC London
