Michael Page wants to see activity in the UFC’s welterweight division.
On the same night Islam Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) claimed the welterweight title by dominating Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, two new contenders emerged when Carlos Prates knocked out Leon Edwards and Michael Morales knocked out Sean Brady. A week later, Ian Machado Garry defeated former champion Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 265.
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“It’s a difficult one, there seems to be a lot of names in that division, which is why it makes it exciting,” Page told MMA Junkie. “But I feel like that’s why people are choosing not to fight specific people – that they’re almost preferring to sit back and wait because they feel like they’re the ones that deserve it. There’s quite a few people that have a claim.
“They’re all making the decision to say let me sit back and wait because I think I have a claim, instead of taking another difficult fight because that could ruin my chances instead of just fighting. If you think you’re the best, even when you get the belt, you’re still going to have to continue fighting to prove that you’re the best and all these names are going to come anyway. I think everybody’s trying to be a bit too tactical in the welterweight division, which is why there’s a bit of a hold up.”
As for former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Page (24-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) says beating Joaquin Buckley to snap a three-fight losing skid shouldn’t be enough.
“He’s only just come back,” Page said of Usman. “Don’t get me wrong – it was a good win against Joaquin Buckley, but you just can’t come back, and again, it feels like he’s not trying to be active, he’s trying to be smart. He picked somebody he feels like he could have beat. He did that, then it’s like, let me sit back because I feel like that’s enough. I think Joaquin was like No. 7-ranked, so he was like, ‘t’That should be enough because my name can also hold weight.’
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“I think in terms of activity, either Morales or Prates. I think those two are the most deserving maybe. Again, both sides have been quite a quick rise, but I think they’re the most deserving at the moment. Ian Garry, again, call it luck of the Irish – they are pushing him. It was a great performance in his last fight, to be fair, so again, he’s deserving. Maybe he fights one of those guys. Those three names, you’d put them up there to be the one to be next in line.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Michael Page: Several have a claim for UFC welterweight title shot
